High School and other huge problems
by Featherlight Sky
Summary: When Kairi moved to Twilight Town, all she worried about was starting a new life. Now add local gangs, dark secrets, and a boy who makes her life more complicated each second, and you get the life that she ended up with. WARNING: violence and adult themes
1. Chapter 1

_A slender redheaded girl walked into the classroom. "Well, Miss Avery, you are late on your first day. Do you have anything to say for yourself?" She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. It was as if she'd gone mute. Then she jumped slightly as she remembered something - she had forgotten to put clothes on this morning! Everyone began pointing and laughing and… _

_BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. _

I shot up in my bed. It took me a moment to remember where I was and what was going on. Then it all came flooding back to me. I had just been forced to move away from the house I had lived in all my life, next door to my best friend, only five minutes away from the best school on the planet, to a new city, with the super-creative name Twilight Town, and today was my first day of sophomore year at my new school.

Lucky me.

I angrily slammed my hand down on the alarm clock. I grabbed my pillow and buried my head under it. My mom came in a few minutes later and said "Kairi, if you don't get up now, you're going to be late for school." I raised my head from under the warm cushiness of my pillow and blearily tried to focus on her. "I'm up, I'm up. You can go now. "

I dragged myself to the bathroom and got a look at myself. Red hair was sticking up all over the place, and my eyes still wouldn't open all the way. Wow, I thought. I look like crap. I took a quick shower and made it downstairs just in time for my mom's "pep talk."

"It doesn't matter that you're new and don't know anybody. I'm sure that by the end of the week, you'll have a few friends to show you how everything works!" My mom has this irritating tendency to think that I can't handle everything myself. "You just walk in like you own the place and show everyone that you are a star!" She also doesn't realize that normal human beings don't try to make a fool out of themselves on their first day of school.

I took a huge bite of my bagel as I slung my backpack over my shoulders. "Thanks, Mom," I said, my mouth full. "I'll just do that."

Twilight Town High was a few blocks south from my house. It was a massive building, constructed entirely of yellow, orange and tan stone. It had a clock face set into the front of the building, which had a courtyard full of green grass and a cheerfully colored patio with a fountain on it.

It was so bright and charming that it made me sick.

I was so busy contemplating whether I should make a run for it or face my first day of class that I ran into someone. I snapped out of it, and automatically apologized. "I'm so sorry," I said, feeling like a total idiot.

The guy I bumped into looked at me, and with a goofy grin on his face said "Hey, no worries. It was my bad." I couldn't help but notice that he had perfect white teeth and pretty blue eyes. His hair, which was spiky and light brown, swayed a little in the breeze. He seemed so laid back and easygoing.

I flashed a brief smile at him and hurried to my first class.

I had English first thing. The teacher was hilarious, and made one of my least favorite subjects seem exciting. I talked a little with the guy next to me. His name was Hayner, and he invited me to sit with him and his friends at lunch.

After that, I had math and science. Three words for those two classes: _Time. Passes. Slowly. _

I mean, come on. Who wants to do math in the morning?

By the time lunch came around, I was ready to start slamming my head against a wall. Then I remembered that I had people I was going to meet at the cafeteria, and the dull boringness of the day seemed to lift.

I made my way to the cafeteria, looking for Hayner. I saw him with a small group of people on the far side of the cafeteria. I picked my way over discarded backpacks and other various items and ended up at one end of their table.

Hayner saw me and waved. "Hey, everybody, this is Carrie." He said through a mouthful of food. I inwardly smacked myself. Is it really that hard to remember a name like Kairi? "Actually," I said as politely as possible, "it's Kairi."

He laughed good-naturedly and said "Oops, my mistake. Everybody, this is Kairi." I waved, hoping I didn't look like a geek. They all waved back, with a chorus of "Hey, Kairi."

Hayner got up from the bench and walked over to me. He playfully punched my arm and said "Glad you made it. Okay, so over here, we have Pence," He pointed to a stocky boy with black hair and a red shirt, "and the _lovely_ lady beside him would be Olette." He pointed to a girl with reddish brown hair who seemed to have a thing for the color orange. "And down on the end over there, we have the happy couple, Namine and Roxas." A shy looking blond girl and a tall blond guy looked up at me and waved. I noticed that they both had shockingly blue eyes.

"Alright, now that you know everybody, have a seat. You've gotta be hungry," Hayner said with a laugh. I grinned and walked around the table to sit next to Namine, the shy-looking one. "Hey, is it okay if I sit here?" I asked. She nodded. I pulled my lunch out of my backpack. Hayner had been right – I was hungry.

As I was stuffing my face in a very ladylike fashion, I saw Roxas stand up and kiss the side of Namine's head. "I'll see you later," He told her softly. He nodded at me. "Nice meeting you." He picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder as he walked away.

I managed to swallow the enormous bite of sandwich I had just taken. I glanced over at Namine. "He doesn't say much, does he?" She smiled. "No, not really. That's just the way he is." She had a very soft and clear speaking voice. She took a sip of her water and began packing up her things. "I have to get to my next class," she said in response to my questioning look. "I have a lot of work to make up." She waved to occupants of our table and left the cafeteria.

I slid my stuff down closer to the rest of the group. "So," Olette said, pointing her fork at me, "Are you gonna join any clubs? Or do you play sports?" I thought for a second. "Well, I haven't decided on any clubs yet, but I was thinking about joining the track team."

Olette nodded. "We have a great track team. I was in it last year, and it was so much fun! I would have done it this year, but I did debate and swim team this year. Hey, maybe you could do debate with me!" she said enthusiastically.

Hayner leaned over the table and said in a loud stage whisper "Don't do it, Kairi! She might _seem_ all nice and friendly, but she would mercilessly crush you in debate!" Olette threw a tin foil ball at him. "Would not!" she said playfully.

"Would too!" "Would not!" "Would too!" The kid with black hair, Pence, rolled his eyes at me. He leaned over towards me and whispered "These two could argue like this for hours. I think that they have a thing for each other." I grinned at him and took a bite of my cookie. "So," I said, interrupting Hayner and Olette, "How long have you guys all known each other?"

Hayner laughed. "Too long." He said jokingly. Olette punched him in the arm. "I've known these guys since naptime in preschool." She said. "I think we were . . . what, four?" She looked at Pence. He nodded. She looked back at me and smiled. "So I've had to deal with this guy" – She pointed at Hayner - "for the past twelve years of my life."

"Oh, and that's a bad thing?" Hayner said teasingly. "That hurts, Olette." He pretended to pout. She stuck her tongue out at him. Pence glanced at me and raised his eyebrows. "See what I mean?" He said.

"Well, how long have you guys known Namine and Roxas?" I asked quickly, hoping to avoid another Hayner**/**Olette argument. The table suddenly got quieter. Olette was the one to break the short silence. "Well, Roxas has been at our school for a long time, I think since fourth grade. And Namine came here a little while after him. "

"So they've been friends with you guys since fifth grade?" I pressed. I hated it when people didn't get to the point. Hayner rubbed the back of his neck. "Well. . ." He began.

Just then, the bell signaling the end of lunch rang. The three of them looked a little relieved. I wondered what was going on. "Well, we'll see you tomorrow, Kairi." Pence said cheerfully. I waved a little as they left. What's with them? I thought.

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly. I had art and Spanish after lunch, and after my free period I had History class. When the last bell rang, I got my stuff from my locker and started for home.

As I was walking out of the parking lot, I saw the guy I had bumped into this morning walking parallel to me on the other side of the street. While I was trying to decide if I should try to be nice and say hello, a red Mustang convertible screeched to a halt beside him, rap music blasting through the windows.

The boy stopped and turned to the car. The driver, an older student with flaming red hair, called something out to him. The boy laughed and hopped into the backseat behind the angry looking blond girl in front. He high-fived the silver haired kid next to him as they sped away.

Well, there goes that idea, I thought.

The next couple of days at school passed without incident. I kept up with my schoolwork and sat with Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Roxas and Namine at lunch. Somehow, I forgot about the subject of how they had become friends.

I also saw the boy I'd bumped into a few more times. I decided that he was kinda cute.

When Friday came, I felt like I'd been following this schedule for my entire life. Wake up, shower, get dressed, go to school, hang out at lunch, come home, do homework, and go to bed. More or less.

But I have to admit, I was kinda surprised when my new friends invited me to hang out at the mall on Saturday. I mean, I'd only known them for a week. "Uh, um, sure," was my very intelligent reply.

On Friday night, I was so excited that even my mom couldn't bring me down with her "pep talk." After dinner, she cornered me and said "I am so happy that you have your own friends now!" She had forgotten that I had had lots of friends at my old school. "It is so nice to see that my little girl is growing up. Now, just be sure to stay cool and not mess it up." What a pep talk, Mom!

I went upstairs to my room and saw that I had a new message on my computer. It was from Olette.

_orangegirl220__: __Hey Kairi! _

_redmadness5: Hey Olette. What's up?_

_orangegirl220: Not much. We still on for tomorrow?_

_redmadness5: Unless a meteor hits me, I'll be there. I'm so sick of being in my house._

_orangegirl220: That's awesome. I've already called Pence and Hayner, and they're both coming. I got a hold of Namine at lunch, and she's bringing Roxas. _

_redmadness5: Cool. So we're all gonna meet under the clock tower at 10?_

_orangegirl220: Yep, that's right. And remember to bring money._

_redmadness5: No problem. Hey, I just remembered something._

_orangegirl220: What's that? _

_redmadness5: You guys never did tell me how you became friends with Roxas and Namine. At lunch on Monday, remember?_

_orangegirl220: Oh, really? I could have sworn we did. _

_redmadness5: Nope. _

_orangegirl220: Well, we've all been friends with Namine since the eighth grade, when she was put into our homeroom class._

_redmadness5: And Roxas? _

I have a small tendency to be impatient. It comes and goes, kinda like my attention span.

_orangegirl220: Uh, hey, Kairi? I hear my mom calling me for dinner. Talk to you tomorrow?_

_redmadness5: Uh, sure. I'll talk to you later. _

_orangegirl220: Bye Kairi!_

_redmadness5: Bye._

I stared at the screen for a while. Then I shook my head and switched off the computer.

I blinked in the early morning sunlight. I shaded my eyes and looked up at the enormous clock. 9:50 am. I was still a few minutes ahead of everyone else. I started walking around the small plaza in front of the tower.

There was a small fountain in the center of the plaza, and there were a few small storefronts lining the edges. The mall was two blocks down the street, so I assumed that they were family owned businesses. I glanced up at the clock one more time before I decided to check out the inside of an art studio.

As I pushed open the door, a bell rang somewhere in the back. I looked around. The walls were covered in beautiful paintings and drawings of all shapes and sizes. There were easels set up around the room, some that held canvases and some that were empty. The floor was covered with paint splatters, and there was color _everywhere_.

As I walked through the studio, a particular corner of the left wall caught my attention. I walked over towards it, and what I saw took my breath away.

The drawings in the corner were exquisitely beautiful, yet they had a pure simplicity about them that made me think of a small child's innocent imagination. They were of everyday things, like a kitchen table and a light pink flower in full bloom. But the picture that immediately drew my attention was the one of a crowd of people walking on the sidewalk of a busy street. Every face, every line, every detail was perfect. Each expression was different, but all the people seemed to be happy in some way.

I was so busy trying to take in every inch of the drawing at once that I didn't hear footsteps coming up behind me. "Can I help you?" someone with a soft, clear voice asked politely. I jumped and whirled around to face whoever was speaking.

Namine looked surprised. She blinked a couple of times before smiling. "Hey, Kairi. I didn't expect you here." "Uh, yeah, sorry." Was my intelligent reply. "I knew that you liked art, but I didn't know you worked here."

She laughed, a light, gentle sound. "I started here a few weeks ago. Did you see anything you like?" I nodded vigorously "Yeah. Who drew these pictures?" I asked gesturing over my shoulder at the wall.

A light blush came to her cheeks. "Oh, those? Well, I, um, I drew those. You really think they're good?" I looked at her like she was an insane person. "Duh. Of course I do! I mean, look at these! They are so awesome, they put Michelangelo to shame."

She started laughing again. "Thank you. That's so nice of you to say." She walked over to the hooks holding people's belongings. She picked up a small shoulder bag and headed to the door, waving me over. "My shift ends at 10 am, so I can hang out with you guys."

When we left the studio, everyone was waiting under the clock. Olette gave us a big hug, and Pence and Hayner slapped high fives with us. Namine looked around. "Hey, where's Roxas?" Her eyebrows drew together under her bangs in worry.

Suddenly Roxas appeared on the edge of my vision, walking toward us from the direction of the mall. Namine's gaze landed on him, and her face lit up. She started walking towards him, and he gave her a big hug.

It was so dang cute that I wanted to take a picture.

When we finally got to the mall, we split up into two groups; Hayner, Pence, and Olette went to go buy some stuff for a school project that they were working on together, and Namine, Roxas, and me were free to wander aimlessly around the mall until we had to rejoin the others for lunch.

At first we strolled around the first floor of the mall, and then Roxas offered to show us the place he was going to get a job at. It was a little skate shop on the second floor called, you guessed it, The Skate Shack. I picked it out immediately as we came up the escalator, due to my sharp eyesight, and the fact that it had a giant skateboard as part of the sign.

As we headed to the entrance, I saw the cute brunette guy I kept bumping into. I tapped Roxas on the shoulder. "Hey, do you know that guy? I think he goes to our school." He turned and looked in the direction I was pointing. His eyes flashed momentarily, then he quickly glanced over his shoulder at Namine, who was still a little ways behind us.

He grabbed my arm and, still looking at Namine, whispered "Is there anyone else with him? Do you see a tall redheaded guy or a blond girl?" I stared at him, puzzled. I had no idea why he was acting this way. And my arm was starting to hurt.

"No, there's nobody else with him. He's just walking into the Skate Shack," I said. "Uh, Roxas? You're kinda hurting my arm." He stared blankly at me, then realized what I was talking about. He released his bone-crushing grip on me. I rubbed my wrist trying to get the circulation going again.

"Why? Are those two friends of yours?" I asked curiously. He snapped his head toward me. The expression on his face was frightening. I wanted to curl up and die under that gaze.

"They," he almost spat, "are not friends of mine."

Just then, Namine reached us. "Hey guys," she said, "is something wrong?" I looked back at Roxas. Amazingly, his face showed no trace of the rage and disgust it had moments before. It was back to his usual quiet, pensive look.

"Hey, Kairi, are you okay? You look a little freaked out." I turned towards her. She had a questioning, concerned expression. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it." She looked at me as if she wanted to ask a few more questions, but decided against it. "So, are you gonna show us this place or what, Roxas?" She asked with a huge grin.

I glanced at him. "Yeah. Go on ahead. I have to tell Kairi something." He said. She smiled at him and said "Fine. Just hurry up, okay?" She turned and walked to the entrance.

Roxas looked at me apologetically. "Sorry," he murmured. "I didn't mean to upset you." I blinked. I was itching to ask what his problem was with the two kids he'd mentioned, but I figured it was none of my business. "That's okay," I said.

What the heck was going on?

When we entered the shop, my first impression was of loud punk music and wheels. It was very crowded, not by people, but by _stuff_. There was stuff everywhere. It looked like junk at first glance, but then I realized that it was piles of parts for skateboards, rollerblades, and trick bikes.

There was a guy sitting behind the counter at the back of the store. He had shoulder length silver hair and was _really_ buff. I mean, he looked like a freakin' bodybuilder. And he looked familiar for some reason.

As I was contemplating this, I managed to get my shoe caught in the spokes of a bicycle tire. I tripped and started falling. I braced myself for a landing on the pile of sharp-looking equipment, but a hand shot out of nowhere and grabbed my upper arm.

I was pulled to my feet, and I saw who caught me. It was, of course, the guy who had brown hair. The one who I had run into on Monday. He grinned at me. "Careful. That would have been a nasty fall." I could only stare stupidly at him. I had no idea why my brain had stopped functioning properly.

"Hey, wait a second. Aren't you that new girl at school? The one I almost ran over last Monday?" Just my luck. He probably thought I was a huge klutz or something. Well, I was, but still.

"Yeah, that's me. I'm Kairi Avery." He laughed and said. "Nice meetin' ya. I'm Sora Kingsley. Can I help you find anything?" "You work here? I asked. "Yep. Just started yesterday. Took forever to get the job, though." He pointed to the silver haired kid. "I only got in because of him. That's my friend Riku." Riku looked up and waved, his face expressionless.

Suddenly, Namine and Roxas were standing next to me. "Hey Kairi, you've got to see—" Namine stopped short when she saw Sora. "Uh, hey, Sora," She mumbled. He looked at her, several emotions playing out on his face at once, some too fast for me to pick out. The two that I caught surprised me-- sympathy and guilt.

"Hey, Namine. How're you doing?" he asked politely. "I'm fine," she said quietly, not looking at him. He nodded in Roxas's direction. "Roxas." "Sora." came the short reply. Was it me, or was there an edge to his voice?

An awkward silence followed. Sora attempted to bring down the tension level. He smiled easily and said "So, are you gonna take the job here, Roxas?" He waited expectantly. Roxas was silent for a moment, then said "I think so. No one will give me one anywhere else." He gently took a hold of Namine's shoulder. "I think we're gonna go now," he said softly. "See you later."

Sora nodded politely. He glanced at me and smiled. "Nice meeting you, Kairi." I tentatively smiled back. "Yeah, you too." As we were walking out, I glanced over my shoulder and waved. He waved back.

I wondered what was up between the three of them.

Sora mentally kicked himself. How could he ever get the point across to Roxas? He'd apologized to both of them several times. He didn't know what else to say. _Sorry I wasn't there to stop it. Sorry I don't know what everyone in the gang is doing every second of the day. My bad._

Riku looked up from the papers on his desk. "Well, that could have gone better." Sora glared at his friend. "You know," Riku continued, oblivious to Sora's expression, "for a couple of guys who used to be best friends, you and Roxas sure don't communicate well."

Sora grunted in agreement. He walked through the door leading to the supply room. He dropped heavily into a chair and sighed. He couldn't help but wonder if the new girl, Kairi, knew about it yet,

I trailed after Roxas and Namine, who had their arms wrapped around each other. We went to the elevator instead of the escalator this time. Roxas pushed the button and pulled Namine in for a hug. He seemed to be whispering to her, but I couldn't hear what he was saying from this far away.

I joined them in the elevator as the doors opened. I rubbed my arm awkwardly. What was I supposed to do? Did I offend them by having a conversation with Sora? I was about to ask where we were going next when Namine said "Hey, aren't we supposed to meet the others for lunch in a few minutes?" I checked my watch. Almost 11:50. "Yeah, in about ten minutes," I said.

The elevator doors opened on the ground floor, and we made our way towards the food court. I glanced at Namine. She seemed normal again. Roxas had also slipped back into his usual quiet self. I knew I really shouldn't have said anything, but I couldn't help myself.

"Are you guys okay? You seemed a little upset back there." I paused, hoping I hadn't said anything stupid. Namine looked up at me, seeming to have just remembered that I was there. "Yeah, we're fine. Are you okay?" I blinked. That seemed like a silly question to ask. "Of course I am." Namine seemed to brighten a little. "Oh, good. You seemed a little distressed in the elevator." Yeah? That's what I thought about you guys, I thought.

After a short silence, we lapsed into normal conversation. We were just beginning to talk about the projects coming up at school when we reached the food court. "I have no idea what I'm going to do for the science –" Namine froze mid-sentence. Her eyes were locked on something directly in front of her. I turned to see what she was looking at, and followed her line of vision to a table at the edge of the food court.

At the table, a group of kids, a little older than we were, were all cursing and laughing loudly at each other. I recognized the one with his boot-clad feet up on the table – he was the guy who had been driving the red Mustang that I saw on my first day of school. There was no mistaking the vivid red hair, and I thought that the blond next to him had been in the car that day, too.

Wait a second – hadn't Roxas said something about a blond and a redhead earlier?

I turned to Namine, and I was a little scared by what I saw. Her face had gone completely white, and her eyes were like saucers. She looked terrified.

Roxas had one hand on her shoulder. I saw his eyes were also locked on the table, but he didn't look scared. He looked murderous. He was speaking softly and urgently to Namine, trying to get her to turn around and walk away.

But Namine wouldn't move. She stood rooted to the spot and stared, transfixed, at the table. I could almost feel the cold terror emanating from her. Roxas seemed unnerved by the lack of response he was getting, and he finally tore his gaze from the table and fixed his eyes on me He almost seemed to be pleading for help. I understood. I grabbed Namine's shoulder and turned her around by force. Roxas took up her other arm and steered her away from the food court.

We had only gone a few feet when I noticed that the group seated at the table had quieted down. Then a voice called out, "Hey, Roxas! That you, buddy?" Mocking laughter followed. Now I was really confused. I glanced over at Roxas. His eyes were wild, and he gritted his teeth.

"Hey, Roxas! Don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you!" More laughter. Roxas looked past Namine at me and whispered through clenched teeth "Keep going." I had taken about two more steps when I heard the scraping of chairs against the tiled floor. Panicked, I glanced over my shoulder to see the older teens advancing toward us.

For one thing, there were a lot more of them than there were of us. And they were pretty nasty looking. I had no doubt that any one of them could rip the three of us to shreds. I shook the thought from my head. Quit thinking things like that, I told myself. You're being paranoid. Why would they have any reason to do that?

I glanced over my shoulder again. They were about ten feet away from us now. The tall redhead called out "Hey Rox. What's the matter? Aren't you happy to see us?" Suddenly, a hand shot out and grabbed Roxas's shoulder and spun him around to face them.

The tall redhead smirked at him. "I was talking to you. It's rude to ignore people." The men looking blond girl came forward. "Where have you been, Roxas?" She drawled. "It hasn't been as much _fun_ without you around." She tried to ruffle his hair, but he angrily shoved her hand away.

Her bright green eyes flashed. "Watch it, Roxy," she growled. "Don't forget who you're talking to."

I had discreetly been inching away from them, Namine in tow, unnoticed. Until now, that is. A blond guy with silver earrings and a deck of cards noticed us first. He nudged the guy next to him, a huge senior who I had seen when I walked by the detention room. I thought his name was Lexaeus.

He did a double take, and a malicious grin slid over his face. "Hey, guys," he said in his booming voice "Look what we got over here." I felt a shiver run up my spine. I decided that I didn't like these people. At all.

I looked at Namine. She looked almost as if she was in shock. She withdrew deep within herself, to a place she didn't have to deal with . . . whatever had happened. It was like she had escaped her body and left behind an empty shell. I moved slightly so that I was blocking her from the others.

The redhead glanced our way, then back at Roxas. "Well well, Rox. Look who's here." Something in his voice made me look up. He had a small smile on his face, but it wasn't an expression that showed any sign of kindness. It made me want to hide away somewhere.

He strode toward me and Namine. I squeezed Namine's arm, praying she'd snap out of it. He stopped in front of me. He leaned over to get a better look at me. He narrowed his eyes. "You new around here?" he asked quietly. "I don't think I've seen you around before. If I had, I probably would've -- " "_Axel_." The angry looking blond warned.

"Relax Larxene. You should loosen up." He said over his shoulder. "I'm just having some fun." This earned a couple of snickers. I looked past Axel to Roxas. He was moving slowly away from Larxene towards us, probably to grab Namine and me and run. I looked back at Axel. He turned to me and smirked. I stared back for a moment, and then his gaze drifted past me and locked onto something just behind me.

His smirk widened into a predatory grin. He took a step forward and pushed me aside like I wasn't there. "Well, well, Namine. Long time no see." At that moment, Roxas lunged at Axel. Before he could do anything, Lexaeus, the big senior, wrapped him in a bear hug that lifted him off the ground and sent the air rushing from his lungs.

Axel looked back at him and laughed. He reached out and latched onto Namine's arm. Namine's head snapped up at the contact. Her eyes locked onto Axel's, and he leered at her. Her other hand shot up and desperately tried to pry his fingers open. He just laughed.

"Namine, you're hurting my feelings. Aren't you happy to see me?" He squeezed her arm tightly, causing her to gasp in pain. The rest of his group snickered behind him. Roxas was desperately trying to break free of Lexaeus's grasp, but was only succeeding in tiring himself out. I realized through my haze of confusion that I had to do something. So I did the first thing I could think of. I punched Axel as hard as I could.

It didn't really hurt him, but he was dazed enough to let go of Namine. I grabbed her hand and started to run away, but a hand tangled itself in my hair. I was almost taken off my feet, and Namine went crashing to the floor. I tried to twist away, but the grip on my hair just got stronger.

I realized that it was Larxene who had caught me. She held her face about three inches from mine. "You just punched my boyfriend, bitch." She hissed.

I honestly thought we were all toast at that point. Then, something strange happened. Larxene let go of my hair, Lexaeus dropped Roxas, and they all warily backed away.

I turned my head as I was helping Namine up to see what had happened. A tall boy with a beanie hat, a short silver-haired girl, and a tall Hispanic-looking guy had arrived on the scene. I wondered why the others had backed off. I mean, there were only three of them. Then I saw that they had weapons.

The tall guy with the beanie hat came forward. "Come on now, Axel. I thought you knew better than to treat others this way." He said mockingly. He walked forward. "I also thought I had told you to lay off on the beatings." He brandished a small, sharp knife. "I think we've had this talk before. Except, last time, Xigbar had that unfortunate accident with his eye." He nodded to a black haired guy with a ponytail and an eye patch.

He smiled disarmingly. "But I think we can avoid that kind of thing today, don't you?"

Axel bared his teeth at him. "Shove off, Seifer. We were just having a chat." Seifer tilted his head to one side. "Really? Didn't seem that way to me." He spread his arms wide. "I don't really feel like kicking your sorry asses into next week, so I'll just let you off with a warning." The charming smile disappeared. "Get out of my sight. Now. And don't let me catch you in our territory again."

Axel hesitated for a moment, then seemed to relax. He smirked. "You know, I was getting sick of this place anyway. You can keep this dump." He turned on his heel and strode away, closely followed by his pack.

Seifer thumbed his nose after them. He grinned and turned to Namine and me. "Now, how is it that a couple of girls like you got into trouble with the Organization?" I stared blankly at him. "In trouble with the _what_?"

"The Organization. You know, the guys who were about to make you into mincemeat." He hooked his knife back into his belt. He glanced over his shoulder and nodded at the other two. The girl shoved two knives back into her boots, and the boy put spiked gloves into his pockets.

He turned to us again. "I'm sure that you did something pretty bad to get those guys on your case like that. So, what did you do? Steal drugs? Attack one of the members?" I shook my head. "I don't know what we did." Not totally true. I knew something had happened before I moved here, but I didn't know what.

Roxas came forward. "Thanks for helping us out, Seifer. But I'm gonna get Namine home." He looked at me. "You gonna be okay?" I nodded. He walked over to Namine and gently laid an arm across her trembling shoulders.

"Don't start expecting me to help you out, loser. I had nothing better to do. And I just can't stand the sight of those Organization scum." Seifer said. He looked at me and Namine. "Although, I might just help you guys out, if you need it." Roxas looked grim. He nodded in acknowledgement and led Namine towards the exit.

I smiled weakly. "Thank you," I said. "We really appreciate the help."

He laughed. "No problem. Just doing our job."

"Job?"

"Yeah. We're the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee."

He pointed at the silver–haired girl. "That's Fuu," he pointed to the tall Hispanic kid, "and that's Rai. We're the town's protectors, basically. We just aren't always, you know, _legal_ in our methods."

I was surprised. I hadn't thought that a cute and cheerful town like this would need protecting. "I better get going. I need to meet up with some people. Thanks again." I turned and headed back to the food court. I had a few questions I needed answered.

Hayner, Pence, and Olette arrived fifteen minutes after I did. I waved them over to the table. When Olette saw me, she gasped. She hurried over and began assaulting me with questions.

"Kairi, what happened? Where are Roxas and Namine? Are you all right?" I managed to get her to shut up by the time Pence and Hayner reached us. They took one look at my face and their expressions hardened. I could tell that they had some idea as to what had happened.

The three of them took a seat. I took a deep breath and recalled the events of the morning, starting from when we had split up and ending with the unexpected rescue. Hayner's eyebrows shot up when I mentioned that it had been Seifer and his gang who had saved us.

"Wait a second. _Seifer_ saved you guys? And he knew Roxas was with you? That's a bit hard to believe." I was getting irritated. It seemed everyone knew something I didn't, and I was getting sick of it.

"Okay, that's it. I know you guys aren't telling me everything, and I can respect that. But I was almost beaten to a pulp just now, and I have no idea why. I think I deserve to know that much."

They glanced at each other uneasily. Pence spoke first. "Well, it really hasn't been necessary for you to know this, so we've kept it to ourselves." He stared down at the table, looking almost embarrassed. "It's not really our news to share. But, you're right. You do have a right to know what's going on."

Hayner picked it up from there. "You know that we became friends with Namine in the eighth grade, right?" I nodded. "Well, we didn't really know Roxas before he started dating Namine in freshman year. We actually avoided him most of the time. When he asked her out, we tried talking her out of it."

"Wait, why did you avoid him? What was wrong with him dating Namine?"

Olette looked at me sympathetically. "Kairi, Roxas used to be a member of the Organization gang."

I was thunderstruck. That didn't make any sense to me. Roxas despised the Organization, didn't he? I remembered the look on his face when we first saw them. It was clear he hated them now, anyway. But why?

Olette continued on. "At the end of last year, a few weeks after Namine agreed to go out with Roxas, she was walking home by herself at night. She wasn't really paying attention to where she was going, and she. . . " Olette paused, and then continued. "She walked past the Organization's place. Some of the members were outside, and they were stoned and bored, and Axel - " She stopped again, too distressed to go on.

I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the rest, but then Hayner spoke. "Those filthy bastards had nothing better to do, so they attacked her. Messed her up real bad." He brought his fist down on the table. "And they knew who she was. They knew she was Roxas's girlfriend, and they didn't even care. They thought it was _funny_."

I couldn't even comprehend the meaning of his words. I was in total shock. I heard a strange roaring in my ears, and my whole body went rigid. Namine? Sweet, gentle, kind Namine? Then it hit me. _They had attacked Namine._ They had attacked Namine because they were _bored_.

"Oh my God," I whispered. Pence nodded, his face set in stone. "Roxas had been out with a couple of the more decent members, and the guy you met at the skate shop, Sora, called him. He hadn't seen what was going on, but he got a text from one of the others who were there. It had pictures. Roxas ran the entire way from the other side of town to get there, but he wasn't fast enough."

Pence shook his head sadly. "As soon as he got Namine to the hospital and was sure she'd be cared for, he went back to the Organization's hangout. He wanted to know why they did it. I don't know exactly what they said to him, he never told us, but he did some serious damage from what I heard."

Olette clasped her hands on the table and said "It took her the rest of the school year to physically recover. She's never fully recovered mentally, though." That much made sense, the way she froze up when she saw them, the way she had seemed to withdraw into herself and hide.

So many things made sense now. The way Roxas had acted towards Sora, why no one wanted Roxas to work for them, the reason that Seifer didn't like Roxas, how Namine had told me she had lots of work to make up. And I had been too stupid to connect the dots.

"Wait a second. Why aren't these people in prison? Didn't anyone report them?"

Hayner chuckled darkly. "Yeah, they were reported by Namine's parents, but no one would dare testify against them in court. Who would've wanted to end up like some defenseless fifteen year old rape victim?"

I saw red. My brain felt like it was on fire. I was absolutely _furious_. "No one would testify? Because they were _scared_?" My voice shook with rage. "How could people just sit there and let this happen? What if it had been their kid or friend or whatever that this happened to?"

Olette put a hand on my shoulder. "Kairi, the only real protection anyone has against them is Seifer and his gang, and there are only three of them. The Organization threatens and bribes lots of the police. Wouldn't you be a little scared?"

I looked at the table. Truth is, I would be. But that didn't make it right.

Pence said "A few of the oldest members are in jail on separate charges, but that still leaves us with Axel, Larxene, Demyx, Lexaeus, Xaldin, Xigbar, Zexion, Luxord, Sora, Riku, and Marluxia. Riku, Sora, and Demyx aren't that bad, but you'd better watch out for the rest of them. That won't be the only time they'll try to get to you."

I took a deep breath. "I think I'm gonna head home, guys. I'm not feeling so good." The three of them nodded sympathetically. "I'll give you a ride home, Kairi." Olette said.

I tried to smile, but I couldn't seem to find the energy to.

"Thanks for the ride, Olette."

"Hope you feel better, Kairi. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Bye."

I trudged up the walk to the front door of my house. The sun was already setting behind the trees. I tried to make it upstairs without my mom noticing. It didn't work. "Hey, sweetie. How was your day?" She called from the kitchen. I was too tired to deal with her. "I don't want to talk about it right now," I called back. I ran up the last few steps before my mom could protest.

I rushed down the hall and slammed my bedroom door behind me. I dropped my stuff on the floor and threw myself onto the bed. I cried into my pillow until I fell asleep.

Sora was having a nightmare. _He was trapped inside the Organization's hangout. He couldn't find a door anywhere. With each passing moment the decrepit house seemed to shrink. A window suddenly appeared. He threw himself at it, but it would not open._

_He saw people outside. One of them was a small blond girl. She was screaming for help._

_He pounded on the window with his fists. He shouted as loudly as possible. But the tall figures wouldn't stop hurting her. _

_Then the people disappeared, and his best friend appeared. Sora was relieved. He would help him get out of this tiny space. _

_Something was wrong. His best friend knew that he could help, but he wouldn't. The space kept closing in. He would be crushed. But his friend wouldn't save him. _

_Because he hadn't been able to save the blond girl. _

_The walls closed in around him._

Sora sat bolt upright. He was on the couch at the hangout. He wiped sweat off his forehead and relaxed a little. _Just another nightmare. _He lay back on the couch and closed his eyes, wondering what he could do to patch up old friendships.

I woke up feeling groggy and sick. I lifted my head off the pillow to see what time it was. 11:03 am. I groaned and buried my face in the pillow. I didn't feel like getting up.

As if on cue, my mom clomped her way up the stairs and threw open my door. "Good morning, Kairi!" She chirped. I opened one eye and glared at her. She didn't seem to notice. "Get out of bed, sweetie! It's a beautiful day outside. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and you have to go to school tomorrow!" The pep talk wasn't too bad, except for that last part.

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and sat up. My mom saw that I still had my clothes on from the day before. "Honey, why are you still wearing those clothes? Are you feeling all right?" That surprised me. My mom was usually too distracted to ask me about how I was doing.

I rubbed a bit of sleep from my eyes. "Yeah, I'm feeling fine," I lied. "I just had a long day yesterday." She smiled at me. "Well, I'm glad you're okay. I'll be running some errands today, so give me a call if you're going anywhere." "Okay."

She sighed happily. "Well, I'll be back around four. I'll bring dinner." She added. She turned and left the room. I heard her rummaging around downstairs, and then I heard her say "Bye, Kairi." "Bye Mom." I called back. I heard the front door slam, and I listened as the car roared out of the driveway.

I sat in silence for a few moments, deciding what I should do. I decided to take a shower. I felt gross. I let the water run over my head, and I contemplated yesterday's events. My thoughts were so scattered that I had to list them in order.

1. Namine had been attacked by a gang called the Organization.

2. Roxas had been a part of that gang.

3. The guy I thought was cute was still a part of and had friends in said gang.

4. I had almost been in serious trouble yesterday.

I closed my eyes for a moment. I felt like a self absorbed pig. The only things I had to worry about in my life were getting good grades and being accepted by popular kids, while Namine had to worry about her personal safety. She had real problems, not the ridiculous day to day things I deal with. I wished I could understand what it must be like for her, but I realized that I've been very sheltered.

You don't really think that things like this are real, just something on T.V. and in the news. You don't think of it as something that could actually happen in real life, to you or your friends. I turned off the water and wrapped myself in a towel. I turned and walked to my room to get ready for the day.

I took my bike out of the garage and headed for Namine's house. I figured it was the least I could do to make sure she was alright.

My mom had been right; it was a beautiful day. It was bright and sunny, and there was a slight breeze that ruffled my hair. I couldn't help but smile a little. After a little while, I realized I didn't really know where I was. I hit the brakes and looked around. I was in a neighborhood that was a bit run-down, with the paint peeling off the small houses and the grass dying in the front yards.

I felt a little panicked. I had left my cell phone in my room, and I couldn't see any street signs. I thought it would be best if I just kept going until I recognized something. About ten minutes later, I still didn't know where I was. I stopped again, looking for a street sign or someone else who could tell me where I was.

I had ended up on a street badly in need of repair. The windows of most of the buildings had been smashed in, and doors were hanging off their hinges, creaking slightly in the wind. The sun was still shining, but it didn't feel warm and comforting like before. The gray surroundings seemed to soak up the light rather than reflect it.

I shivered a bit. The feeling of unease had grown, causing me to wrap my arms around myself. I wasn't sure that I should stick around too long, so I put my feet back on the pedals and began to ride away. I turned another corner and found myself at a dead end. I honestly thought I was going to have to send an SOS signal to get myself back home.

Just then, someone walked out of the house on the corner. I wouldn't have been able to tell you that anything alive was in there. It looked like a bomb had gone off on the inside. The windows were all blown out and the deep brown paint was black from mold in some places.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I got off my bike and walked it over to the edge of the grass. "Excuse me," I called out, "I think I took a wrong turn. Can you tell me where I am?" The person jumped at the sound of my voice. They turned, and I saw that it was Riku, that kid from the shop.

I brought my bike up beside him. "Hey Riku. I met you yesterday at your store, remember?" He stared at me like I had just dropped out of the sky. "Is this where you live?" I said, trying to be polite, waving a hand at the ramshackle house behind him. He started a little, like he had just woken up. He hurriedly glanced over his shoulder at the house, and turned back to me. "Follow me. Now." He whispered in a rush.

I blinked. "What?"

He looked over his shoulder again. He grabbed my arm and said "Come on." He pulled me- and my bike- down the street. I was totally bewildered. Was something wrong?

We turned the corner and he came to a stop. He dropped my arm and turned to me, aqua eyes flashing. "What are you doing here?" he grated. "Are you _insane_?" I felt my temper flare up. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? What is your problem?" I half shouted.

'My _problem_ is that you were just on the Organization's front lawn, and you freakin' _punched Axel in the face_ yesterday. Larxene was in a fit about it for hours. Do you have a death wish or something?"

I felt a tingle of fear crawl up my spine. Their front lawn? What? No. I would have known if I had passed by them. Wouldn't I? Wait. Their yard. This was the exact same way Namine had ended up in the hospital. She had gotten lost, and ended up here. But I had been lucky. She had not been. I shivered.

I hugged myself against a sudden gust of wind. I looked up at Riku with wide eyes. He seemed to relent a little. "What are you doing here?" He asked in a tired voice. "I got lost." I said quietly. "I was trying to get to Namine's house." He shook his head. "Well, you definitely aren't in the right neighborhood."

I shrugged. "Well, could you tell me how to get there? I just moved here last week." He raised an eyebrow and gave me the directions. I hopped back on my bike and paused. I looked back at him. "Hey, Riku?" He turned around. "Thanks." I said. He just shrugged at me. "No problem," he said. "Not all of us are totally evil." I smiled at him and rode away.

I made it to Namine's place shortly after that. Her brother Cloud answered the door. "Is Namine here?" I asked. He nodded. "But she's not feeling well. She's been shut in her room all day." I said. "I'm sorry to hear that. Could you tell her I was here?" He nodded again and closed the door.

My shoulders sagged. Poor Namine.

Sora glanced up from the T.V. as Riku walked in. "Where've you been?" "Out." Sora rolled his eyes. "That's real helpful. Very descriptive." Riku whacked him in the back of his head as he walked by. "I was helping that girl Kairi. She was actually in the front yard a few minutes ago." Sora's head snapped up. "Kairi was _here_? Seriously? Did anyone else see her?" Riku shot him a dirty look.

"I just said I was helping her, didn't I? If anyone else saw her, you would hear lots of screaming and fighting outside." Sora half smiled. "Yeah. Probably. I still can't believe we missed Axel being punched in the face."

Riku chuckled. "Yeah. The only thing I don't mind missing is Seifer."

Sora laughed. The new girl was turning out to be interesting.

I shielded my eyes against the sun. I was a little early for school, so I sat on the edge of the fountain in front of the main building. I hadn't slept well at all the previous night. I kept having nightmares about haunted houses chasing me.

I sighed and headed to my locker. Of course, I almost tripped over my own two feet on the way, but no one saw that. As I entered the hallway where my locker was located, I noticed that there was someone leaning against it.

I approached carefully. I couldn't tell who it was- their face was hidden by the hood of their sweatshirt. I walked up and said "'Scuse me." They looked up. It was Sora. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little happy to see him.

Don't judge me.

He grinned at me. "Hey Kairi. I heard about what went down at the mall on Sunday." I felt my face heat up. Was it embarrassment? Or was it anger? "Yeah? What about it?" He laughed. "I just had to say, you either have a lot of guts, or a lack of common sense. Standing up to the Organization like that."

I didn't know what to say to that. "Aren't you a member of the Organization?" His eyes slid away from mine. "Yeah." He said. I was irritated. He was either a hypocrite, or was trying to get on my good side by complimenting me. "I'm sorry if I offended you or anything. You know, insulting your friends or something."

His eyes hardened. "Some of them aren't my friends." I frowned at him. "So, what? Are only a _few_ of the world's most horrible people your friends? Like the guy who sent you that _text message_?" He flinched. There was a great sorrow and bitterness in his eyes. I knew I'd struck deep with that comment.

I slammed my locker shut. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? Maybe I don't have the right to say that. I didn't mean it." He looked away. 'It's okay. I know exactly what you meant." He said quietly. "I'm used to it by now."

The bell for class rang. "Well, I'll see ya around. Watch yourself, okay?" I nodded. "And I am sorry about what I said. Bye Sora." He smiled halfheartedly and waved. I turned the corner and lost sight of him.

Sora waited for her to turn the corner. The hall slowly emptied out. He leaned back against the lockers and slid to the floor. He rubbed his hands over his face and took a deep breath. So she did know about it. He let his head rest against a locker.

He wondered how she had found out. Roxas had probably told her. Or maybe Namine had.

_Oh god, Namine, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry Roxas. I wish I could have saved you both._

Most of my morning went by in a blur. I barely listened as we were lectured on Shakespeare, zoned out during a science experiment, and stared out the window during math. It was a relief when lunch came.

I made my way to our table, careful not to get tackled accidentally by some football players. Hayner was the only one there. He smiled at me when I sat down. "So, anything exciting happen yet today?" I rolled my eyes. "No, not really. Unless you count learning about what the inside of a frog looks like as exciting." I laughed. He grinned. "So, are you coming to our first basketball game tonight? I think we might actually beat the Traverse Town team this time." I shook my head and sighed. "I can't. I've got to study." Not true. I just didn't feel up to going today.

He pretended to pout. "Awww, and I thought you were my friend. Just kidding!" He protested as I threw a french fry at him. Olette appeared out of nowhere and took a seat. "Hey, guys." She said "Pence is out sick, so he can't go to the game tonight. But I can still go with you guys." Hayner pulled a face. "Kairi, you're gonna leave me with just Olette cheering us in the stands? Thanks a lot," he said sarcastically. I started cracking up. "Yup," I said between giggles. "I am leaving you with just Olette. Wait, what about Roxas and Namine? Aren't they coming?"

Olette shook her head. "Namine is still at home. She was feeling sick, she told me." Hayner scratched his head. "And I haven't heard from Roxas since Saturday. I don't know where he is today." I tilted my head to one side. "You haven't heard from him for two days? I thought he lived on your street." Hayner shrugged. "Doesn't mean I see him every day. We live on opposite ends of the street."

I rested my chin on my hands. "Well, in that case, I guess I could make an appearance at your game tonight. Just don't make me paint my face or anything." Hayner laughed. "Deal."

The rest of the day flew by. Before I knew it, the final bell was ringing, and I left my class and headed to my locker to get my books.

When I reached the corner, I saw a familiar figure leaning against my locker. Gray sweatshirt, jeans, skater shoes. The hood was still pulled up to cover the face, which I thought was a little ridiculous, since we were indoors and I knew who it was. Or so I thought. "Hey, Sora," I said tiredly. "I'm still sorry for yelling at you. I really didn't mean it, okay?"

"Sora?" said the chillingly familiar, mocking voice. They lifted their head, and I stared into vivid green eyes. I stiffened and felt my eyes go wide. "The name's Axel. Got it memorized?" he smirked and unfolded his arms. I swallowed and tried to keep down the panic I felt rising. "So, what's this I hear about you talking to Sora? You guys getting to know each other?" He smacked his forehead. "Oh, that's right. You're new around here, so you must not know about him - or the people he's involved with."

I tried to make my legs move, but I felt numb. I wanted so badly to just run away, but apparently my feet didn't get the message. So I tried to make Axel think I wasn't scared. "Oh, yeah? I know all about you and your pathetic gang. And I know that you're a bunch of horrible, brainless, arrogant bastards who make yourselves feel better by attacking defenseless girls."

He chuckled, but his eyes narrowed to slits. "Okay, so you know a little about us." He leaned in until his face was three inches from mine. Now I understood the term "shaking in your boots". He grinned maliciously. Then he said, just barely loud enough for me to hear, "But, did Sora tell you it was his idea? To beat the crap out of that little whore Namine?"

I went cold. No. It couldn't be. He would never do that. He wouldn't. "You're lying," I whispered. He laughed. "Am I? Or has he just kept that little detail from you? Maybe he'll tell you if you put out enough." I felt my face heat up in rage and embarrassment. My temper flared up. So of course I did the one thing that defied common sense – I swung my fist up and connected it with the side of Axel's head.

In an instant he had grabbed the front of my shirt and hoisted me off my feet. He swung me around and slammed me into the row of lockers. He glared at me with those bright green eyes. "You'll pay for that." He ground out through clenched teeth. He hauled his fist back, probably with the intent of smashing my face in. I squeezed my eyes shut. Oh, God, I thought. Please let someone see me. Please let someone help.

"Enough." A calm voice said smoothly. I opened my eyes. Riku was standing there, a hand placed firmly on Axel's shoulder. Axel stared in disbelief, and then regained his composure. He snarled at Riku and tightened his grip on my shirt. "This little bitch just punched me. You know the rules. No one goes after an Organization member and gets away with it." Riku raised an eyebrow. "Really? That applies here? I just thought that rule went into effect when someone else starts the fight. And as I recall, _you_ provoked _her_."

Axel's eyes widened in anger, and then he smirked. "And as a senior member of the Organization, I can do whatever the hell I want. Besides, rules are made to be broken." His eyes switched back to me. "Now then, where were we?" He raised his fist again. It came whistling through the air, straight at my face. I braced myself for impact, but it never came.

Riku had caught Axel's fist two inches away from my nose. Riku's eyes were narrowed to slits. "Not the right time or place. She didn't hurt you, just your ego. Settle it some other time." Axel looked like he was going to explode. But he seemed to come to his senses. You have to be at least nine kinds of stupid to mess with a guy like Riku. Axel is only eight kinds.

He relaxed and let me drop to the floor. He scowled at Riku. "You're lucky that I'm such a forgiving guy. Otherwise, your sorry face would be smashed on a locker." Riku half smiled. "Well, I guess I'm very lucky, then." Axel grinned and said "Well, I've got a hot blonde waiting for me." He glanced at me. "And don't you worry, princess. We'll talk again soon." With that, he turned on his heel and strode away/

Riku waited until he turned the corner. Then he turned to me and said "Are you seriously trying to get yourself killed? That seemed like a pretty dumb stunt to pull." I rubbed my arm and looked away sheepishly. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to get you involved." I muttered. He threw me a sideways glance and said "You're lucky I did get involved. You were gonna be beat to crap if I didn't do something." He sighed and shook his head. "You need to be more careful. Your friends won't always be there to help you."

I looked up at him. "Thanks, Riku." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Don't mention it. Seriously." He grinned. "If Sora hears about this, I don't know what'll happen."

I froze. _Sora_. All his idea. Lied to me. His best friend's girlfriend. _His idea_.

I hugged myself tightly. I lowered my eyes and asked "Was it true? Was it really his idea?" Riku paused. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "No. That's not entirely accurate." "Not _entirely_ accurate? What does that mean? That it was only _partially_ his idea to rape Namine?" Riku's eyes flashed dangerously. "Sora," he said, "didn't rape Namine. He had nothing to do with the actual attack. We were all a little drunk this one time, a while after Roxas asked her out. We were all just kidding around and we said stuff we didn't really mean."

I waited for the rest. He seemed to stare off into space. "Uh, Riku?" He snapped out of it and continued. "And Sora said some crude, stupid comments about 'the new girlfriend' and joked about how she should have, like, an orientation or something." His face darkened. "But Axel didn't just leave it at that. He took it too far."

"Then why didn't you do something to stop him? I mean, he clearly would listen to you." I said heatedly. Riku blinked. "I wasn't there. I was across town with Demyx and Roxas. We were checking out some stuff for the gang." "And where was Sora?" He shrugged. "I don't know where he was that night. All I know is that he called Roxas after he got that text."

I quietly absorbed that information. I suddenly felt weary, like I'd been carrying a thousand pounds on my back. I took a deep breath. "Look, I've gotta go. I need to help my mom with some stuff before the big game tonight. Thanks again for all your help. I'll see ya later." And I turned without another word and left.

I didn't really feel like going home, so I walked down the road and turned into the little café that the juniors and seniors went to for lunch sometimes. I dropped heavily into a seat and sighed. It seemed like my life was turning into one of those annoying CSI mystery shows. And all I could see when I first moved here was the bright cheerfulness this town seemed to emanate, with all its colorful buildings and happy people. Now I knew that looks are deceiving. Many people had to live in fear all the time because of a bunch of psycho teenagers that have no morals.

And I was turning into one of those people.

I ordered a sandwich and a soda, and I carried my stuff to sit at one o the outside tables. Even though it was late September, it was still warm out. After a few minutes I let myself relax. After all, it's hard to stay upset when you're eating. I closed my eyes against the late afternoon sunlight. I felt safe and comfortable. For now.

Sora was throwing a tennis ball against the wall when Riku walked in. "Hey," he called. "Hey." "Where've you been, man? I thought we were gonna go to that game later."

Riku rolled his eyes. "I've been being a good Samaritan. Helping damsels in distress, slaying dragons, all that crap." Sora stood up. "Ha-ha, very funny. So what were you actually doing?" Riku ran a hand through his hair. "That girl you like, Kairi, almost got herself killed again today. Axel waited for her outside her locker." He shook his head. "Would have bee a real mess if I hadn't shown up." Sora stood there, open-mouthed. "What? _Again_? What happened?"

Riku looked apologetic, which threw Sora off a bit. "Well, Axel's been fuming about the mall incident, so he decided it was payback time." He flopped onto the couch and picked up the T.V. remote. "And Axel told her that it was all your idea to hurt Roxas's girlfriend." Sora's heart dropped into his feet. Without looking at him, Riku said "But I told her the real story. How Axel just took your joke too far." He glanced at a stunned Sora. "You're welcome." Sora sat on the end of the couch, dazed. "He told her about that?" he murmured. Riku sat up. "Look, don't worry about it. I told her what really happened. And besides, she has it bad for you."

Sora's head snapped up. "What?" Riku laughed. "You heard me. She defended you against Axel. Punched him in the head." Sora had a look of wonder on his face. "Really? She did that?" Riku grinned. "Yep. That's one unique chick you got your eye on, man."


	2. Chapter 2

I finished up my homework and went upstairs to my room. My computer showed that I had a new message. It was from Olette.

_orangegirl220__: __Hey Kairi! _

_redmadness5: Hey Olette. What's up?_

_orangegirl220__: __Just making sure you were still coming to the game, that's all._

_redmadness5: Yeah, I'm still going. What about you?_

_orangegirl220: Yep. I was gonna ask if you if you needed a ride or something._

_redmadness5: That would be awesome. Thanks!_

_orangegirl220__: __Hey, no prob. I'm here to help!_

_redmadness5: Ha-ha. 6:00 okay?_

_orangegirl220: Yep, good for me. See you at six!_

_redmadness5: Bye. _

I switched off my computer and flopped on my bed. I stared into space and played the scene in the hallway over and over in my head. Riku was right; I needed to be more careful. If he hadn't shown up, I'd probably be nothing more than a little smudge on the wall.

I sighed. If my mom ever found out about my encounters with the Organization, she'd completely freak out. She'd call everyone we knew and try to get them thrown in jail – and that would not go over well. For either of us. I couldn't let her find out, ever.

I rubbed the sore spot on the back of my head where it had collided with the lockers. It was sensitive to the touch. I winced and sat up. I looked at the clock. 5:46. I had just enough time to get a snack out of the fridge before Olette picked me up. My stomach rumbled at the thought. I grabbed my jacket and headed downstairs.

Olette was a few minutes early. I asked her if she wanted to come in for a minute, but she politely declined.

As we were driving, I played around with the dials of the radio. There had to be at least a thousand buttons on it. I mean, come on. Who needs all the hassle? There should just be an on and off button, and a thing to change the station. Period.

"I'm so excited for Hayner!" Olette said enthusiastically. "Our team has never beaten the Traverse Town team, but their best players have graduated, so we might actually win!" I couldn't help but grin. Her excitement was contagious. "So, Kairi, do you think, um, after the game, I should, you know, askHaynertogooutwithmesometime?" she laughed nervously.

It took me a moment to process what she was saying. I blinked I surprise. "What? You want to ask Hayner out?" She shook her head and laughed again. "I know. It's stupid. I shouldn't have said anything." I quickly shook my head. "No, no, I think that's a great idea." I smiled reassuringly. "And besides, Hayner likes you too." Her eyes widened. "Really? You think so? How do you know?"

I chuckled. "It's so obvious. And Pence already knew you guys liked each other. He told me." Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "Was it really that obvious?" I nodded sympathetically. She closed her eyes for a second and snapped them open, remembering that she was driving. I laughed at her expression. "I think you should go for it." I said encouragingly. She giggled. "You know what? I think I will."

When we pulled into the parking lot, the place was packed. Students from all four grades were there, and even a few teachers showed up. Olette circled the rows of parking spaces, looking for an opening. She finally found two empty places next to each other and chose the left one. As I was about to open the car door, a pair of headlights popped up behind us. I waited patiently for them to pull in.

Then I saw that it was a red mustang.

I froze. I reached over and clutched Olette's arm. "Olette, you've got to change parking spots. Please." The urgency in my voice scared her a little. "Kairi, what's wrong? Are you okay?" I shook my head rapidly. "No. That's the _Organization's car_ that pulled up next to us." I glanced over my shoulder at it. I could feel my heart pounding in my ears. The car door opened. Someone stepped out.

And to my vast relief, it wasn't Axel.

Sora shut the door behind him. Riku got out on the other side. I took a deep breath and calmed down. Olette also seemed to relax. I summoned up the strength to get out of Olette's car, and she did the same. I slammed the door behind me.

Sora jumped and turned to me, surprised. Then he broke into a goofy grin. "Hey, Kairi. Scared me there for a second. Thought you might be --" He stopped abruptly. "Anyway, are you guys going in for the game? Riku and I are meeting up with some people there."

That immediately put me on my guard. "Yeah, we're going to cheer on our friend. So, who're you meeting? Anyone I would know?" He caught the suspicion in my voice and put up his hands defensively. "It's nobody in the Organization, don't worry. They're just a couple of seniors we know. that's all." He looked past me at Olette. "Hey Olette. Long time no see." She waved politely. "Hi Sora." She walked around the car and stood next to me. "Hi Riku."

Riku came around the side of the car and thumped me on the back in what was meant to be a friendly way, even though it felt like a sledgehammer blow. "Hello to you too, Riku." I said weakly. He laughed, a strangely comforting sound. Sora grinned at me. "Riku told me all about how you stood up to Axel again and _lived_. What's your secret?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "There's no secret. I just have bizarre strokes of luck, that's all." I pointed to Riku. "And in the words of a very wise guy, I have good friends."

Olette looked confused. "What? You ran into Axel again today? You didn't tell me about that." Oops. My bad. I found myself recalling the events of the afternoon, ending with Axel practically running away from Riku. Sora was cracking up, and Olette couldn't help giggling. Even Riku had a smile on his usually serious face.

I smiled to myself. Maybe it was a good idea to come tonight after all. "Come on guys, let's head inside. The game's going to be starting soon."

The seniors that Riku and Sora knew actually turned out to be really nice. There were three girls, Aerith, Yuffie, and Tifa. Tifa ran the kickboxing club, and Aerith ran the gardening club. Yuffie taught karate at a small dojo near the art studio Namine worked at. The boys were Zack, Leon, and, to my surprise, Namine's brother Cloud. Zack and Cloud were best friends, and they were going to join the army when they graduated this year. Leon was on the student council, and was going to move in with his girlfriend when he graduated.

We all sat in the top portion of the bleachers, cheering madly whenever our team got the ball. Olette cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted "Go Hayner!" about ten thousand times. The rest of us thought that this was pretty funny, but no one wanted to burst her bubble, so we didn't say anything.

In the last few seconds of the game, our team was losing by one point, and we had of the ball. One of our players dribbled it up the court, and passed it to Hayner. The clock said three seconds . . . Hayner lobbed the ball from half-court . . . two seconds . . . one second . . . _swish_! The buzzer sounded.

I don't think I've ever seen a crowd go that wild.

The noise was positively deafening. Olette was ecstatic, and was jumping up and down like crazy. The whole bottom section of the bleachers rushed out and put Hayner up on their shoulders. The basketball players looked like they were going to either explode into fireworks or just drop dead from happiness.

I laughed and high-fived Riku and Sora, who then proceeded to turn around and collect the money they had just won from the seniors, who had bet that our team would lose. I turned and looked at Olette. "You should go talk to him now!" I tried to say over the crowd.

She didn't hear me. "What?" She called back. "Go ask him out, you nerd!" I shouted teasingly. Her eyes widened, and then she smiled and ran down the bleachers to join the crowd on the gym floor. I saw her weave in between other people until she reached Hayner, who was still being held up on the fans' shoulders. I watched as she shouted something up at him.

He looked surprised, and then a huge grin spread across his face as he nodded vigorously. A cheer erupted from the people around them, and Olette was hoisted up next to Hayner on their shoulders. She looked back up at me and waved. I waved back, laughing to myself.

Sora looked puzzled. "What just happened?" I smiled and said "Olette just asked Hayner out, and he said yes." Sora's eyebrows shot up, and he laughed. "Now that," he said, "is awesome."

Riku, Sora and I said our goodbyes to the seniors and made our way back to our cars. Sora and Riku were discussing the highlights of the game, and I was texting Pence about how he had been right about Hayner and Olette. Just as soon as I finished my message to Pence, I got a text from Olette.

_Hey Kairi I'm sorry I kinda left you back there. Can you get a ride from somebody? I'm really sorry. The team is going out to celebrate, and they invited me to go along._

I quickly reassured her that I'd be fine, and to go out and enjoy herself.

_Thanks so much Kairi. I really owe you one!_

I smiled and snapped my phone shut. I felt really happy for her. I just couldn't get over the fact that she had gathered her courage like that and asked him. I don't know if I could have.

Sora must have realized that I was zoning out, because he quickly tried to include me in the conversation. "So, Kairi, who do you think was a better point guard, 7 or 14?" I thought for a minute. "Definitely 7. 14 was leaving a huge gap for the other team to use on the left side."

Sora nodded thoughtfully. "I think you're right. And 7 was better with the free-throws."

I noticed that Riku was no longer walking next to us. I turned around and saw him standing a few feet back, eyes fixed somewhere ahead of us. He suddenly shot forward and grabbed Sora and me. He steered us around and started pulling us in the opposite direction. "Guys, we gotta go. Now." I frowned. "Riku, what's wrong? Your car is over that way."

Riku shook his head. "Not exactly _my_ car. We kinda borrowed it." I felt my eyes widen.

"Wait a second, you guys didn't steal -" Sora quickly shook his head. "No, we didn't steal it, honestly. The car belongs to the Organization." He rubbed the back of his neck. "We just didn't actually _ask_ to borrow it. And the car mainly belongs to Axel."

I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. "But, wait, why can't we go back to it?" Riku grabbed my shoulder and pointed. I followed his gaze and found myself looking at a car that was parked next to the Mustang.

Axel and a few other Organization members were leaning against it, smoking cigarettes.

I felt fear prickle along my spine. Sora sucked in a breath and turned to us. "All right. Let's go guys. We'll see if Leon or Zack can give us a ride." I quickly nodded in agreement, and glanced back at the car.

A pair of vivid green eyes found mine. Axel grinned maliciously and flicked away his cigarette. Even at this distance, I heard him say "Start the car."

"Shit." Riku muttered. Without taking his eyes off of the other members, he moved slightly so that I would be between him and Sora.

"Kairi, as long as you're with us, I don't think they'll bother you too much. Just don't say anything, and for the love of God don't punch anyone." I nodded slowly, hoping that he was right. I pulled out my phone and got ready to call for help, in case he wasn't. I could feel adrenaline pouring into my system, and my fight or flight response was screaming for me to run away.

Sora let out a breath. "Just turn around and start walking. Don't run or seem like you're scared. It'll provoke them." I almost burst into hysterical laughter. It sounded like we were dealing with wild animals instead of humans. Which, in a way, I guess we were.

We turned around and began to slowly walk in the opposite direction. The roar of the car engine startled me so badly that I jumped about a foot into the air. Riku put a steadying hand on my shoulder. "Just keep walking. It'll be okay."

I took a deep breath and calmed myself. After all, we were in the school parking lot. What could possibly happen?

I heard the screech of tires against the pavement as they pulled out and sped toward us. The three of us moved to one side of the road so they wouldn't hit us. The car shot past us and skidded to a halt, blocking our way. The car doors opened and Axel, Lexaeus, Larxene, and a smaller emo-looking kid that I didn't recognize stepped out.

"Well, what have you guys been up to? Nothing good, I hope." Axel said mockingly. He and Lexaeus came toward us, moving slowly but surely.

Sora shrugged. "We just came to watch the game. Nothing big." He smiled easily. "What's up with you guys?"

Axel ran a hand through his hair. "Well, when I noticed that my _car_ wasn't in the garage, I figured that I should come and get it." He glared at Sora. "And you would never guess where I found it."

"Speaking of which, how _did_ you find it?" Riku asked, feigning polite interest. Axel smiled smugly. "I had Zexion over here," he said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at the emo kid, "install a tracker in the dashboard."

I glanced past him at the small kid. At first glance he looked like a little kid, but looking a bit more closely I saw that he had to be at least my age or older. He seemed to be annoyed with being here.

Axel and Lexaeus stood a few feet in front of us. Riku was at least eight inches shorter than Lexaeus, and Riku was by no means a small guy. Sora was only a few inches shorter than Riku. I was tiny in comparison, and I'm five foot six. I had no doubt in my mind that no matter what Sora or Riku said, they would not be able to protect me in an all-out fight if it came right down to it.

Lexaeus caught my eye and grinned evilly. I shivered.

"Well, since we're all here, I think that we should have a little fun. Don't you, Lex?' Axel asked casually. Lexaeus cracked his knuckles. I felt Sora tense up next to me. But when he spoke, his voice betrayed no emotion. "Come on, guys. None of that."

Larxene walked up behind Axel and draped her arms around him. She glared at me, her green eyes flashing. Still glaring at me, she said in a syrupy sweet voice "Awww, Sora, what's the matter? I thought you _liked_ having fun." She laughed, high-pitched and irritating.

My hand clenched into a fist. I mentally screamed at myself to calm down. Acting out now could have serious consequences.

Riku intervened. "I think we should just call it a night. I know I'm ready to head back home. How 'bout you, Sora?" Sora nodded slowly, still tensed up. Riku glanced at me. I stared back, wondering how this was going to work out.

Axel just smirked. He looked first at me, then at Riku. "Fine. I'm gonna head back to base. Just got a new supply of beer. You coming, baby?" he murmured to Larxene. She nodded, smiling sweetly.

Sora relaxed a little. "Okay. We'll meet you guys there after we drop off Kairi."

Axel feigned surprise. "Oh, you were gonna drop the princess off? I thought I made myself clear. I'm taking my car back." He grinned maliciously. "I'm sure she'd be just fine walking home – by herself." I shuddered quietly. I knew I wouldn't make it back to my house if I was alone. I suddenly felt lightheaded and dizzy.

I swayed a little, and Sora put a hand on my shoulder. "I'll walk her home, then." He gave me that goofy grin. "I'll just make sure she makes it there safely." I felt a sudden rush of gratitude towards him. He knew that they wouldn't attack a member of their own gang on a whim.

The other Organization members stood there, open-mouthed. Axel recovered first. He scratched a spot behind his ear. "Fine. But you're gonna have to walk back to base." He said irritably. Sora just shrugged. Axel spat on the ground and motioned for everyone to leave. Riku threw me and Sora an apologetic glance as he got into the car.

As they sped off, I glanced at Sora. He seemed preoccupied. I took a breath. "I'm sorry you have to walk back." I said tiredly. "You didn't have to do that for me."

He snapped out of his reverie and looked at me in surprise. "Yeah I did. It wouldn't be right to just leave you by yourself." I was taken aback. I didn't think that he would see it that way. I smiled uncertainly at him. "Thank you. That's really kind of you."

He flashed me a grin. "Not a problem. Shall we?" he gestured grandly at the sidewalk ahead. I couldn't help but laugh. "We shall." I said.

We walked in comfortable silence for the first few minutes. Several cars passed by us on the road, mostly students heading home from the game. The sun had set an hour ago, and the little light that there was came from streetlamps placed at intervals down the street.

Suddenly I couldn't stand the silence any more. I had no idea why, but I felt that if I didn't say something I would explode.

"So, Sora, how did you join the Organization?" Stupid question, I know. But it was one of the things that I really wanted to know.

He blinked in surprise. "Why do you ask?" I shrugged. "Just curious." He stared at me, and then started chuckling. The chuckling escalated to laughter, and pretty soon he could barely walk straight he was laughing so hard. I was annoyed by this. I didn't appreciate being laughed at.

"What is so funny?'' I demanded, crossing my arms as I walked. He took a moment to get his breath back. He looked at me with those giant blue eyes, and I felt some of my irritation lessen. It was hard to stay mad at a guy like Sora.

He shook his head in wonder. "It's just that you want to know so much about the weirdest things. If I was on the hit list of a powerful gang, I wouldn't be asking how to join; I'd be hiding under a rock somewhere." He looked back at me. "And yet, here you are, hanging out with a member of the Organization right after _another_ bad encounter with them, asking about how they joined." He laughed again.

I felt my face heat up. "I was just wondering, that's all." I muttered.

He shook his head again. "All right, then. I'll tell you. My dad split when I was three, and my mom turned to her friends for help. Turns out, they weren't the greatest people to be around. Anyway, she got messed up and spent all our money on drugs, so I ran away when I was ten." He clasped his hands behind his head.

"I kinda wandered around for a while, and I ended up here, in Twilight Town. I was a little scrawny and dirty, but Riku and Demyx found me and brought me to the Organization. They took me in. You know, cared for me and stuff. And that's how I joined." He looked over at me. "I think that's just about all there is to know."

I could only stare, slack-jawed. "I-I'm so sorry," I stammered intelligently. "I had no idea. Are you okay?" I mentally kicked myself. I can be so stupid sometimes. What kind of question was that?

He tilted his head to one side. "Yeah, I'm fine. Are you okay?" He asked, his voice full of concern. "You sound like you're gonna be sick." I shook myself. "Yeah, I'm all right. Sorry, I was just a little shocked. You've had kind of a rough time."

He shrugged at me and smiled. "Well, at least my life has never been boring," he joked. I stared at the ground in front of my feet. "But how do you stay happy all the time?" I asked.

He sobered for a moment. It was brief, but for an instant his face showed bitterness and remorse. Then he put back on his mask. In a slightly more serious voice, he said "You just gotta keep laughing it off, you know? If I actually stopped to think about all the stuff that's happened, I'd probably never be able to pick myself up again. Just keep smiling, and it'll all be better."

We walked in silence for a few minutes. I could tell we were almost at my street.

I sighed. "Hey, Sora? Why do you and Riku keep sticking up for me and protecting me? It just causes trouble for you, doesn't it?"

He glanced over at me and gave me a small smile. "Well, we just feel that it isn't right to let you handle this by yourself. We don't think its right to treat people the way that they do." He paused for a moment. "And besides, we consider you a friend."

We walked up to the front of my house. I could see the light on in the kitchen.

I mulled that over for a moment. "Really? You do?" He nodded and grinned. "Yep. Why else would we put up with all this crap?"

I was somehow oddly touched by his words. "Thank you. I guess I think of you as a friend too." Before he could react, I gave him a hug. He was too surprised to move for a few seconds, and then he wrapped his arms around me.

I pulled away. "Thanks again for all your help." I said quietly. "Good night."

He waved at me. "See ya later."

I closed the door softly behind me.

Sora stood on her front lawn for a few moments, dazed. Slowly, he turned and started walking down the street.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he stared at the tiny stars glittering in the night sky. Silently, he recalled what he hadn't told her. He had mentally promised himself that he would not fail to protect this one. He wasn't going to allow anyone else to share Namine's fate

He would take care of her. Nothing was going to happen. Not this time.

**A/N**

**Sorry it took so long to update! Review please.**


	3. Chapter 3

_BEEP. BEEP. BEEP_.

Ugh. I buried my head under my pillow, willing the annoying sound to go away. And, right on cue, my mom waltzed in through my bedroom door. "Kairi, sweetie, it's time for school!" she chirped enthusiastically.

I pulled the pillow off of my face and stared blearily at her. "How am I related to such a morning person?" I mumbled. She laughed and waved her hands in the air.

"Oh, honey, how can you say that? The morning is the best time of the day! You never know what might happen." I frowned, squinting a little. That was not exactly the best thing to say to me, considering the events of the past few days. I groaned and pulled the covers back over my head.

They were pulled right back off in a hurry. "Time to rise and shine, sweetie!" my mom sang. I glared at her.

I sat up and sighed in exasperation. "All right, fine. But you have to give me a ride to school."

My morning went by in a flash – probably because I was semiconscious for most of it. I felt like I was going to fall asleep standing up. Literally.

When lunch came around, it was a huge relief. I didn't think my friends would mind if I just took a nap on the lunch table. I wove my way through the throng of students crowding the cafeteria. I narrowly missed being tackled by the football players, who were fighting over the last slice of meat-lovers pizza. I carefully made my way to our usual spot, and a pleasant surprise awaited me.

"Namine! Roxas! You're back!" Namine smiled at me. She looked far better than she did the last time I saw her, back at the mall. Roxas looked up and said "Hey." which was his equivalent of a long, wordy greeting.

I took my seat next to Namine. "How've you guys been? We were getting a little worried about you." Roxas just shrugged, but Namine said "We're okay. I just wasn't feeling so well, and Roxas stayed home from school with me." Ah. That part made sense.

She lowered her eyes and smiled a little sadly. "I'm sorry about what happened at the mall. I didn't think that they would be there." She shivered a little and hugged herself tightly. The smile slowly slid off her face. "I, uh, guess you've heard by now?" she said quietly. I nodded, not knowing what to say.

Roxas laid an arm across Namine's shoulders. "So," he said softly, "Are they bothering you now?" He looked over at me. I thought about how to best answer that. I decided to say that they weren't giving me too much trouble. So basically I lied through my teeth. But Roxas and Namine had enough to worry about.

"Not really. I haven't actually run into them since Saturday."

He considered this for a moment, and looked as if he wanted to say something else, but decided against it. "All right. But the second they give you trouble, you either come straight to me and I'll take care of it," his eyes hardened, "or you go straight to Seifer's gang." He said these last words through clenched teeth, as if it was hard for him to say.

I nodded. "Okay."

I would like to point out here that I have absolutely no idea where to even begin looking for Seifer and his gang. And I would never _ever_ get Roxas involved with the Organization. It would turn ugly _really_ fast if that ever happened. I doubt that Roxas would actually kill anybody, but it might come close.

He seemed satisfied with my answer. He sat back and rubbed Namine's shoulder. She seemed to have recovered her composure at last. I was only beginning to realize just how fragile she was.

Just then, I heard Olette's unmistakable voice cut through the cafeteria. "Oh my gosh! Guys! You're back!" I smiled wryly at Roxas and Namine.

"Prepare yourselves, guys. Olette asked Hayner out yesterday, and he said yes. So get ready to hear all about it."

Namine's eyes widened, and her mouth was hanging open. "No way," she said. Roxas grinned. "It's about time," he said sarcastically.

Hayner and Olette seated themselves next to me. Pence sat down across from them. "Hey, Pence." I said cheerfully. "Glad you're back." As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Olette burst into excited chatter.

"Oh my gosh, you guys. You'll never guess what happened yesterday--" I contentedly zoned out of the conversation. I was happy to let Olette have the spotlight – I didn't want to downsize her accomplishment. .

The bell signaling the end of lunch sounded, and Olette finally ceased her ramblings. I thought I saw Hayner and Pence breathe a sigh of relief. To cover up my giggling, I said a hasty goodbye and headed off to my next class.

My afternoon was a blur as well. It was hard for me to stay focused on anything for too long. I vaguely wondered if I was getting sick or something. The final bell rang, and I shuffled out of my classroom to my locker. Before I rounded the corner into my hallway, I peeked around the corner to make sure no one was leaning up against my locker. Thankfully, the coast was clear.

I breathed a sigh of relief and walked the short distance to my locker. I quickly dialed the combination and opened the door. I was so busy debating whether I should bring home my science book or leave it at school that I didn't hear footsteps coming up behind me.

Suddenly, someone's hands came down on my shoulders and said "Boo!" I jumped about three feet in the air. Before my brain could process anything, I had whirled on the person with my heavy backpack raised as a weapon, which I brought down on the person's head.

They stumbled a little, holding their head. "Oww." Sora raised his head and smiled weakly. "Okay, maybe I deserved that."

I was stunned. "Oh my God, Sora!" I exclaimed. My face immediately turned six different shades of red. "I am so sorry – I-I just thought . . . I didn't mean . . . I thought you were someone else! Are you okay?"

Still holding his head with one hand, he nodded, then winced. He grinned that goofy grin at me. "Well, I shouldn't have to worry about saving you so much, not with that arm. That actually kinda hurt." He laughed good-naturedly. I blushed even harder, if that was possible.

"I really am very sorry. I totally didn't mean to do that." He waved a hand at me. "That's okay. You don't have to apologize. I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that. Did I even say that right? 'Snuck up?' Anyway, I shouldn't have done that. You're already stressed out enough as it is." I frowned at him. "How do you know I'm stressed out?" I asked suspiciously.

He laughed at my expression. "Well, just look at you. You have absolutely no color in your face, and you're walking around like a zombie." Oh. So that's how he knew.

I sighed and rubbed my eyes. I was _really_ tired. "Okay, fine, I'm a little stressed. But it's completely understandable! You told me yourself yesterday – if you were on a powerful gang's hit list, you'd be hiding under a rock!"

I crossed my arms. He tilted his head to one side, trying to remember. His expression cleared. "Oh, yeah! I did say that." I couldn't help but smile. I've said this before, but it's hard to stay irritated at a guy like Sora.

"Then you told me a bit about the Organization. Speaking of which, how was that party you went to after you dropped me off?" He shook his head. "No idea. I didn't go. I headed back home after that." I must have looked a little puzzled, because he said "I guess I just was too tired to deal with everybody."

I pushed some stray hair behind my ear. "Well, in any case, I'm glad you didn't go." I turned around and finished putting my books in my locker. "Really? Why's that?" he said curiously.

I shrugged. "I just have a hard time picturing you doing all the stupid things that they do. I kinda respect you for being nicer than they are." I straightened up and locked my locker. I turned to him. "I'm really glad that you're not horrible like them. It definitely makes it a whole lot easier to be around you."

He looked a bit surprised. "Uh, thanks. Um, do you need to get home?"

I looked at my watch. "Yeah. I gotta get going. My mom's expecting me to be back by 3:20."

"Are you walking?" he asked. I nodded. "Yep, I'm walking. My mom gave me a ride this morning, and she works afternoons." Sora seemed to make up his mind about something. "All right, then." He said briskly. "I'll walk you home." I blinked in surprise. "Uh, okay," was my brilliant response.

He smiled. "Okay. Come on, then."

We left through the main doors of the school. We were laughing about my mishap with the football players when we ran into Roxas, Hayner, and Olette in the parking lot.

"Hey guys." I called. "Where are you guys headed?" Roxas waved and was about to say something, but then he saw Sora. His shoulders stiffened, and he stopped walking towards me. I sensed that something wasn't right. I saw Hayner and Olette exchange worried looks. They turned back to look at Roxas and Sora.

Sora raised an arm and waved. "Hey everybody," he said casually. Roxas straightened up and said. "Sora." His tone was icy. Roxas looked over at me and softened a little. Hey, Kairi. We were just gonna head home. Where are you guys going?" Was it just me, or did he sound suspicious?

"I was going home, and Sora offered to walk me back because my mom's at work, so she can't give me a ride." I said carefully. I didn't want to accidentally upset him.

Something in Roxas's expression changed. I couldn't quite put my finger on what, but I felt uneasy. Roxas nodded slowly at my explanation. He glanced behind him at Hayner and Olette. Turning to me, he said "I'm sure Olette could give you a ride. Right, Olette?"

She nodded, looking uncomfortable. Hayner said something to her quietly, and then started walking toward his beat-up old car. Olette looked longingly after him, but said "Yeah, I could definitely give you a ride. Come on, Kairi." She waved me over, looking past me at the two boys.

I glanced over at Sora. "Is it all right with you if I go with them?" I asked tentatively. I didn't want to hurt his feelings or anything. He shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets. He grinned and said "Yeah. Fine with me."

I smiled at him and walked over to where Olette was standing. We turned and headed over to her car. As I got in, I waved at the two boys and shouted "See you guys later!"

They waved back as Olette sped out of the parking lot into the street. Soon they disappeared from sight behind the building. I looked over at Olette. She seemed distracted. "Hey, Olette, are you okay?"

She snapped out of her reverie just in time to slam on her brakes before she hit a little old lady crossing the street. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." She said absently as I managed to release my death-grip on my seat.

I stared at her. "You almost killed a little old granny," I told her disbelievingly. "I seriously doubt that you are fine." She laughed a little, but the sound quickly diminished. I could tell that it was going to be a long ride.

Roxas waited until the car had rounded the corner of the school building. He turned angrily to Sora "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sora blinked in surprise. "What?" he said in confusion.

"What are you playing at? With Kairi?" he ground out. Sora could only stare blankly at him. He had no idea what he was talking about.

Roxas shook his head furiously. "She's a _nice girl_. You're a member of the friggin' _Organization_. Why are you hanging around with her?! Don't you get that she shouldn't be seen with you? That you shouldn't even be _thinking_ about her?" His voice cracked. "It's dangerous for her." He said quietly. "Please." He stared at his shoes. "Don't make the same mistake I did."

Sora was dumbfounded. This had not been what he was expecting at all. "Look, Roxas--" he started.

"Don't. Just listen. I know you think you can protect her from them. I know you don't think that anything is gonna happen. I thought that too, about Namine." He took a deep breath. "I was wrong about that. They got around me. If I hadn't gone on that stupid assignment"— He clenched his hands into fists.

Sora couldn't believe what was happening. His old friend was opening up to him, talking to him just like he used to.

Roxas smiled mirthlessly. "And you know what they tell you when you get back? They had been planning on it. Thanks to _your_ idea, Sora. You know what Axel said to me?" His eyes filled with a hatred so profound that it scared Sora. "He told me 'Aw, no need to get upset. We were just breaking her in for you.' _Breaking her in_. Like a goddamn pair of shoes!" He stopped, unable to continue

Sora stood there, completely shocked. He'd had no idea. The information slowly burned into his brain, bringing back all the nightmares that he had about the incident, of how he hadn't been able to save Namine.

"Roxas, look, man, I'm so sorry about all of that. It shouldn't have happened. I had no idea that they had planned it – I would have done something." He didn't know what else to say.

Roxas seemed to pull himself together. He stood up a little straighter, his mask of indifference firmly in place. "She didn't deserve to go through that. No one does." He glared at Sora. "So, why didn't you do anything? After all, that night, you were _closer than I was_."

The words hit Sora like a blow. All the guilt and remorse flooded his body until he could barely stand. His vision blurred, and the memory of a dark room, lit only by a cell phone screen, filled his mind. Horrible pictures, pictures that turned his stomach, pictures of a bruised, bloody, helpless Namine flashed through his brain.

_No. Stop. Just shut it out. Just keep smiling, it will all be better. _He thought desperately. Slowly, he came back to his senses.

Roxas was standing over Sora, who had slid to his knees. He stared coldly at the kid who used to be his friend. "Well?" He said relentlessly. "Why didn't you stop them?"

Sora knew that Roxas knew the answer. He said nothing.

Sora pulled himself to his feet. Looking at Roxas with a mixture of sadness, guilt, and anger, he said "I've told you a thousand times that I was sorry. But I won't let that happen this time. I can handle it."

Roxas seemed on the verge of exploding. Taking a deep breath, he said quietly "If anything happens to Kairi, I'll do something ten times worse to you." He turned and walked away without another word.

Sora stared after him for a moment. He shook his head sadly and headed for home.

It seemed like forever before Olette finally dropped me off in front of my house. In the process of driving, she had almost run over five people, caused a major car pileup, had cut people off, and had run a red light. I cautiously pried my fingernails out of the seat. I checked myself over for any injuries. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with me, so I hastily thanked her and threw myself out of the car. I would be very reluctant to let Olette drive me anywhere anytime soon.

I silently thanked whoever was watching over me up there for keeping us out of a car crash, and headed into my house. I switched on the lights and dumped my backpack on the table. I walked over to the fridge and pulled out orange juice and some leftover pizza.

I got a plate and a glass out of the cabinets and took a seat. I grabbed the remote and turned the T.V. on, switching it to the local news station so I could write an article for my current events class.

"--- _And in other news, several shootings have been reported in the Twilight Town area." _My ears perked up. Interested, I turned up the volume. "---_Two shots were heard on the east side, by the local mall. Three other shots were reported alarmingly close to the Twilight Town high school. Thankfully, no one has been reported injured. No suspects have been named, but it is the suspicion of the police that it is gang-related activity. I'm Grace Thomas, and this is your local news at four." _

I sighed and turned off the T.V. as a commercial for Dunkin' Donuts came on. I rubbed my temples. It seemed like the Organization was everywhere already. I didn't need to hear about it in my house. I would just make something up and hand it in to my teacher.

At dinner that night, I played around with the food on my plate, not really wanting to eat it. My mom looked up from her plate. "Honey, is something wrong? You've barely touched your dinner. It's your favorite, remember?" I smiled what I thought was reassuringly at her.

"I'm fine, Mom. Really. I'm just not that hungry. Can I save it in the fridge and eat it tomorrow?" She studied me intently. Slowly, she said "All right. If you really aren't hungry. Are you sure nothing is wrong?"

I shook my head. "No. Nothing's wrong." Like you would understand anyway.

She sat back in her chair. "Okay. But you'll tell me if anything goes wrong, right?'' She smiled her sunny smile at me. I smiled back. "Of course. I'll always tell you."

Liar, I thought. You, Kairi Avery, are a liar. I mechanically put away the saved dinner, brought my glass and plate to the sink, and kissed my mom goodnight. I went up the stairs to my room, and quietly closed the door. I changed into pajamas, brushed my teeth, and got in bed.

I lay there, eyes closed, without any real hope of sleep.

On the other side of town, Sora laid awake in bed, thinking over what Roxas had said.

He didn't believe that Axel could have been _that_ horrible. There was no way that he had planned on doing all those things. He had just been high and out of control. Hadn't he? After all, he knew that Namine was Roxas's girlfriend. It had been dark out that night. Axel had been high. It wasn't like he could tell that it was her. Right?

Sora sighed. Who was he kidding? What had been done was monstrous. The others, influenced by drugs or not, were responsible. It didn't matter if it was planned or not.

Sora rolled over onto his stomach and pulled the pillow over his head. He still cursed himself for that day. He could have done something. He knew that.

He pulled the pillow tighter. No matter what Roxas said, that wasn't happening again. He would not allow it. He could handle it.

_Just keep smiling. It'll all be better soon._

**A/N **

**Sorry it took so long to update – again. **

**But hey, high school's tough. Next chapter coming soon.**


	4. Chapter 4

I knew I was having a nightmare, but I couldn't seem to wake myself up.

_I was running down a long, dark road. I knew that if I stopped running, something terrible would happen. My lungs were burning, and I felt like I was moving through water. The evil thing was catching up to me. Suddenly a streetlight came into view. Something told me that if I reached the light, I would be saved. _

_But I continued to slow down. My legs were as heavy as lead, and the evil thing – no, _things _– behind me were speeding up. _

_Suddenly, someone stepped into the light. I couldn't tell who it was from this far away, but I figured that anyone else was better than the people chasing me. I cried out to them, calling for help. _

_The person heard me and turned_. _It was . . . _

I shot up in my bed, covered in cold sweat. I tried to even out my breathing and looked at the clock. 4:37 am. I let out a breath and flopped back down on the bed.

Did you ever notice how when you want to wake up from something, you don't, but when you want to keep dreaming, you wake up? I hate that. I wondered who the person under the streetlight was. They were too tall to be a girl – at least any girl I know—but they were shorter than Lexaeus.

That left me with, oh, every other guy in the whole entire world.

I tried to get back to sleep, and discovered that I was wide awake. I sighed and went to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for the day.

My mom scrutinized me over breakfast. "Honey-bunch, how early did you get up this morning? I mean, you're never up before me." This was true. But, seeing as I didn't want my mother involved with anything close to my encounters with the Organization, I lied like a rug.

"I just felt that I should make breakfast for you, that's all. Since you're always doing stuff for me." Liar.

My mom smiled broadly at me. "Oh, sweetie, that is so nice of you. I don' know what I did to deserve a daughter like you. And the toast is only slightly burnt!" Yeah, I thought it was a good pep talk until that last part.

I made a valiant effort at a smile. "Uh, yeah, thanks Mom. I'm gonna head out to school, okay? Have a good day at work." I gave her a hug goodbye, grabbed my back pack, and quietly shut the front door behind me.

I was twenty minutes early for school, so I sat out on the edge of the fountain in the courtyard. The mist that blew against my skin helped me to stay awake. I was beginning to have thoughts of going home and sleeping when the bell for first period rang.

I sighed and sleepily dragged myself to English.

The whole morning, I felt like I was in a thick fog, looking out at the world through a tiny breach in the fog. I wasn't entirely sure that I could make it to lunch, but the growling in my stomach urged me on. I stumbled my way across the cafeteria and plopped into my seat. I was just taking my first bite of sandwich when Hayner came marching up.

"Hey, Kairi! What's up?" he asked cheerfully. I winced at his enthusiasm. I smiled wryly at him. "And what are you so happy about today, Hayner?"

He shrugged happily. "Dunno. I'm just really psyched today. Hey, is something wrong? You look a little sick." I blinked at him as he sat down. "No, I'm not sick. I just haven't been getting enough sleep the past few days."

He nodded knowingly. Leaning across the table, he said in a low voice "Have you been having more trouble with the Organization? If they're still bothering you, I could get a few guys from the basketball team . . ." I quickly shook my head from side to side. "No, no, no, everything's fine. They've left me alone." My second lie that day. Jeez, what is up with people and protecting me? I can handle things by myself.

He sat back, apparently satisfied. "Well, if they do, just let me know." He began to pull out his lunch.

I looked around suddenly, realizing that we were the only two at the table for the first time. "Hey, Hayner, where is everybody?" He looked up in surprise. "Um, Olette is in the library working on a project, Pence is out of town for a few days, and I don't know where Namine and Roxas are. I bet they'll be here soon, though. I saw Roxas in math, and Namine in Spanish." He took a bite of sandwich. "Hey, have you finished that English project yet? I have no idea what to do for it."

While I tiredly explained the project to him, Roxas and Namine emerged from the crowd and joined us. I looked up, happy to stop talking, and waved. They waved back. Namine looked intently at my face.

"Hi guys. Kairi, are you okay? You look terrible." I would have taken this as an insult from anyone else, but I knew that she was sincerely concerned. I grinned at her. "Yeah, I'm good. You?"

She still looked worried, but she smiled and said "I'm fine. Roxas and I were just helping clean up the rest of the bake sale." I nodded and ate the last bit of my sandwich.

"Well, it was good seeing you guys. Tell Olette I say hi, okay?" I picked up my backpack and slung it over my shoulder. Namine frowned. "Where are you going?" I glanced up. I'm really tired. I think I'm gonna go nap for a few minutes out in the quad."

Hayner looked at me in amusement. "Have fun with that. Just don't sleep through the bell."

I raised an eyebrow. As I walked past him, I whapped him in the back of his head with a book. Namine and Roxas both tried but failed miserably to conceal their laughter. I turned and smiled back at the three of them as I left the cafeteria.

I went up the stairs and through the doors to the quad. I wandered around for a few minutes and found a secluded corner that seemed perfect for relaxation. I dropped my backpack at the foot of the nearest tree and climbed up to a branch about eight feet in the air. It was wide enough that I didn't have to worry about falling out of it.

I laid my head back and smiled. The wind was rustling the leaves around my head. The sun was directly overhead, and the leaves at the top of the tree blocked out most of the light.

It was so relaxing that I could just **. . .**

"_Miss Avery_!"

I woke with a start and almost fell off of the branch.. I looked around, confused, trying to remember why the heck I was in a tree eight feet off the ground. Then it all came back to me. Man, what time was it? I looked around at the quad – the sun was far to the west, showing that it was mid-afternoon.

"Miss Avery, come down here _right now_." I peeked over the edge of the branch. Mr. Sheffield, the vice principal, stood glaring up at me. Now, usually he was a pretty cool guy, as far as teachers go – everyone seemed to like him. But I don't think that even he would be happy that a student had missed all their afternoon classes. "Miss Avery, _now_." Aw, crap.

I carefully let myself drop down out of the tree. I stared first at my shoes, then sheepishly up at him. He had my backpack in his left hand, and one of my shoes in the other. I hadn't even noticed that I was missing a shoe.

He handed me my things and crossed his arms. "Miss Avery, what were you doing up in that tree?'

I stared back down at the ground. "Uh, well, sir, I--"

He frowned at me. "Speak up, kid. I can't understand you."

I nodded and cleared my throat. "Uh, sir, I was taking a nap. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to miss class." He tilted his head to one side and stared at me quizzically.

"Miss Avery, why were you sleeping at school? Aren't you getting enough rest at home? Is everything all right at home?" You've gotta be kidding. Why was my life suddenly a series of 20Questions? Well, at least the guy cared what was happening to the students.

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. "Everything's fine at home. I just haven't been getting enough sleep lately."

He sighed and shook his head. "Well, I'm glad everything's all right, but I'm afraid I'm still going to have to give you detention. One hour, after school today and tomorrow." I blinked in surprise. Kids usually would get a week of detention from any other teacher. I gave him a questioning look.

He smiled good-naturedly. "I can't give you too much grief about it. You were only trying to rest up so you could perform better in school, right?" He looked at me expectantly. I caught on. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, that's exactly what I was doing." I couldn't help but grin – no wonder everybody liked him so much.

He nodded. "Exactly. So you just show up at room 247 at 3:00 today and tomorrow after school, and we'll call it even." I thanked him and started to walk toward the parking lot.

"Oh, and two more things, Kairi." I turned and looked at him. "One: try to get more sleep," he said seriously, "and two: take a seat in the front of the classroom. There are a couple of troubled kids in the back." He looked a bit exasperated. "That Lexaeus kid just doesn't listen sometimes. I have no idea how he hasn't been expelled yet."

I froze. Aw, crap. "Thanks again, Mr. Sheffield." I turned and went back to the building.

The hallways were almost deserted as I made my way to room 247. The final bell had already rung, and most of the kids were out in the parking lot. I had a bad feeling about detention. I just didn't think that I would get a warm welcome from members of the Organization.

Well, at least it was on school grounds in broad daylight. The only places I would have felt safer would have been in my own house or the White House. You know, secret service and all that.

Room 247 appeared on my left. It was right across from the auditorium and the side exit. Good, I thought, I can make a quick getaway afterward. I took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

There were at least seven students already there. Most of them were people I didn't recognize, but most of the back row contained familiar faces. Lexaeus, Larxene, and Axel all looked up as I came in. I felt my stomach go into free fall. I mean, come on, Lexaeus was bad enough, but _Larxene and Axel_? Come on! Did I offend whoever runs the universe in some way?

I saw Axel and Lexaeus smirk as I sat down in the second row by the door, but Larxene looked like she might start spitting acid or something. I ducked my head down and stared fixedly at the floor in front of my shoes, since we weren't allowed to do anything during detention. I felt hyper-sensitive to every sound and movement – I could hear Larxene popping her gum in the back, and I could practically feel the students' breathing. The teacher presiding over detention was a small, mousy-looking woman with brown hair. Did they actually think someone like her could handle these people? I sure didn't.

I looked up at the clock. 3:15. I sighed. I'd only been there for fifteen minutes? It felt like longer. _Much_ longer.

A few minutes later, the mousy teacher stood up. "I'm going to get some papers from the administrations office. There is no talking." She walked to the door. Please don't go, I begged silently. I somehow felt safer with an adult in the room. She turned the handle and left. _Uh oh_.

Of course, the second the door closed, everyone started chatting. I looked around to see if anyone was close enough to talk to, but instead I saw the trio of trouble in the back stand up. The whole room quieted down and turned to look. Axel had that certain smile that made my skin prickle, the one he usually had when he was about to cause pain. They walked toward my desk.

I slouched down in my seat, hoping that I would become invisible. I stared at a spot of dirt on the floor, hoping to seem distracted.

A pair of boot-clad feet appeared. I looked up. Axel stood there, smirking down at me. I stared back defiantly. The whole room was dead silent, waiting to see what happened next. Axel glanced at the other kids, amused, and looked back at me.

"Hey. Haven't seen you in a while, princess." He leaned over the desk until he was two inches from my face. I shrank back a little, but I kept my face expressionless. I wouldn't let him have the satisfaction of seeing me scared. "Well? Aren't you happy to see me?" He tucked some of my hair behind my ear. I recoiled from his touch.

"Can't say that I am." I said coolly. He laughed and stood up straight. He looked at something above me and nodded, still chuckling. A hand grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head back. Hard.

I cried out briefly then clamped my mouth shut. No satisfaction for them.

I opened my eyes and saw Larxene glaring down at me, green eyes flashing. "Aw, that's too bad." Axel's mocking voice seemed far away. "'Cause we're happy to see you. Aren't we, guys?" The booming laughter came from Lexaeus. Larxene just pulled my hair harder. I thought she intended to snap my head off.

I heard movement on my left. One of the other students spoke up. "Come on, man, cut it out. She ain't done nothin' to you--" "Sit down!" I heard Lexaeus shout as he shoved the other kid back into his seat. "Mind your own business." Axel said in a bored voice.

Larxene laughed that annoying high-pitched giggle of hers. She looked down at me, her expression unreadable. "So pretty," she said in a sugary sweet voice. "It would be a shame if anything happened to change that." She pretended to think for a moment. "You know, I never did get you back for hitting my boyfriend. And I just _hate _waiting to get even with someone." With that, she pulled my hair so hard that the nape of my neck slammed into the top of the chair.

The other kids were getting fidgety. They murmured amongst themselves, but no one wanted to go up against Lexaeus.

Suddenly, the handle on the door turned. Larxene immediately released her grip on me and went back to her seat with Axel and Lexaeus. I sat up, gasping for air, and watched as the mousy teacher walked back in, carrying a huge stack of paper. "I apologize, guys," she said breathlessly, "The printer got jammed. I assume everything's fine in here?"

I stared at her, rubbing the back of my neck. The printer got jammed? Was she serious? Well, better late than never, at least.

The last few minutes of detention went by quickly. The moment the clock said 4:00, I grabbed my bag and practically sprinted out the door. I didn't stop until I was all the way down the street, by the café. I stopped to catch my breath.

Why was this stuff always happening to me? I wondered bitterly. The back of my neck still throbbed where it had collided with the chair.

I looked over my shoulder at the school. I could still see the red Mustang in the parking lot. I wasn't going to take any chances, though. I set off at a brisk walk, hoping to reach my house before my mom got home.

About halfway back to my house, I passed the small park that the town had put up in honor of some mayor or other. I was just coming up to the last stand of trees when someone stepped out from behind them. Two someones.

"Riku! Sora!" I called out. They turned toward me. I jogged the last few steps and came to a halt in front of them. I paused, catching my breath.

"Hey, Kairi." Sora said cheerfully. Riku just waved. I grinned up at them. "Boy, am I glad to see you guys. How've you been?"

Sora laughed. "We were just messing with the kids at the skate park. You should've seen it! We set up this mannequin thing in front of one of the ramps so that it looked like someone got murdered – it was hilarious! We put ketchup all over the place. But, sadly, someone called the cops and cleaned it all up." I just stared at him.

"You guys have such a weird sense of humor. And how did you not get thrown in jail or something?" Riku shrugged. "We hid in some bushes. No big deal."

I couldn't help but giggle. "You just hid in some bushes? And that seriously worked on the police?" They glanced at each other uncertainly. Riku clued me in. "One of the cops was . . . a personal _friend_ of the Organization. Axel kinda bought him off." Oh. Well, that was comforting, knowing how honest the men in blue were.

Yeah, right.

"Oh," was all I could say. Sora laughed a little nervously. "Well, anyway, where did you just come from? School ended over an hour ago."

I blushed a little. "Um, I was in detention." Ugh. Great. Sora was gonna know me as the klutzy detention girl. Apparently, just klutzy wasn't enough.

They looked slightly amused by this. "You? In detention? What'd you do, get into a fierce argument with a teacher? Or did your temper get the best of you and make you knock someone's teeth out?" They were trying not to laugh and were failing miserably. I blushed a little more, but there was a hint of anger mixed with the embarrassment.

"No, I was so tired today that I fell asleep in a tree branch and missed all my afternoon classes. There, you happy?" I snapped. They stared at me open-mouthed. Then they glanced at each other, and started cracking up so loudly that it was a bit embarrassing to hear. Sora was doubled over he was laughing so hard, and Riku was having a hard time standing up as well. This, of course, only made me more upset than I already was, so I half-punched-half-pushed them. It wasn't hard, but they still snapped out of it.

"Oh, come on Kairi, we're just messing with you," Sora said defensively. "We wouldn't laugh if we didn't care." He smothered a grin. "Besides, that was the funniest thing I've heard all day." I raised an eyebrow at him. "It's true," Riku said helpfully. "That was way funnier than the mannequin thing."

I was able to hold my glare for about two seconds before I broke into a grin. "I guess it's funny when you think about it." I said.

They laughed and nodded. Riku looked down at his watch. "Crap. Guys, I've gotta go. I was supposed to get some stuff for Ax--" He looked at me and stopped. "I gotta go. I'll see you guys later." He turned and jogged across the street to his car.

Sora and I waved as he sped past. Sora smiled wryly at me. "Well, there goes my ride." He said dryly. He looked down the road at the disappearing form of the car, then back at me.

"So, you need an escort home?"

We took the now-familiar route back to my house. It was so easy, talking to him. He always made me feel safe when he was around, for some reason. Well, the same could be said for Riku, but this was a little different.

"—and then this kid just started screaming and tripped over his own feet trying to run away!" he told me. I started cracking up. He was telling me about the different reactions they had gotten from their prank. So far, they were all hilarious.

"Yeah, but then that kid called the police and they came to clean everything up." He said a little regretfully. He sighed. "That was one of our better pranks, too."

I smiled. "You guys do that a lot? Scare little kids and elderly people?" He grinned. "Yep, sure do. We freak Larxene out with most of our tricks." He shook his head. I heard him say "psycho bitch" under his breath. I laughed and said "I have to agree with you there." He looked up a little sheepishly. "Sorry. Didn't actually mean to say that out loud."

I pushed away the hair that the wind blew into my face. "That's okay," I said distractedly, remembering the way that Axel had put my hair behind my ear. I shivered. "I think she's a psycho bitch too."

He looked at me a little strangely as the wind blew my hair around again. "What happened to your neck? It's all bruised in back." My hand flew up to cover my neck. It was still sore. "Uh, I, um, hit it, on the stairs. I fell," I said stupidly. "I tripped. Yesterday, before school." Hopefully he would buy that, knowing how clumsy I was.

He stopped walking. I stopped and turned around to face him. "Kairi, that wasn't there yesterday. I walked you out to the parking lot, remember?"

Oh. Right.

He took a step closer to me. "Kairi, did something happen today? Seriously, you don't get a bruise like that without remembering how you got it. You can tell me."

I lowered my eyes. I didn't want to make things more complicated than they already were by telling him that his friends kept trying to beat me up. I sighed. On the other hand, I didn't want to go through it by myself, either.

"Today, during detention, I got into a little trouble. But it's no big deal, okay?" I said softly. "I'm fine. Really." That was a lie, but a pretty convincing one, I thought.

Sora didn't think so. He very deliberately reached up and poked me in the back of the neck. "Ow! What was that for?" I demanded. He gave me an exasperated look. "You just lied through your teeth – you are not fine. I only poked you this hard." He demonstrated on my arm. I could just barely feel his fingers brush my skin.

His face hardened. "Who did that to you? Come on, tell me. I can take care of it for you, if you want." It was my turn to give him the exasperated look. "Look, it's not a big deal, okay? I don't need the rescuing and protecting all the time."

He gave me a long-suffering look. "What, did you provoke some junior or senior into a fight or something? I wouldn't put it past you at this point – not with that temper."

I glared at him. "Hey, wait a second; I did _not_ start the fight. Larxene is just crazy--" I snapped my mouth shut. I hadn't meant to say that. _Stupid temper_.

He froze. He looked a little dazed, like ha had been hit in the head. "Larxene – did that? Was she in detention with you?" I nodded. He shook his head slowly, disbelievingly. "I thought she was over that by now. Was Axel there with her? Who else was there?"

I sighed. I hadn't planned on mentioning anything about it, but I ended up telling Sora everything that had occurred.

His expression changed from one of astonishment to one of anger. "That is so wrong. They should just leave you alone already. When I get back, I'll talk to them--"

"NO! Please, just leave it alone. I don't want you getting involved. I don't want you getting in trouble with your friends." I practically begged. "I promise I can handle it. Please, just don't say anything?"

He looked angrily at me, but when he saw my face his expression faltered. He let out a breath. "Fine. I won't talk about it."

We turned a corner and my house came into view. I craned my neck to see if my mom's car was there yet, which was not pleasant. I winced and rubbed my neck. Sora caught it and said "Are you sue that you're gonna be okay?" I forced a smile and nodded. "Yep. I'm completely fine."

We walked in silence for a few moments. Suddenly he asked "Hey, do you have detention again tomorrow?" I glanced inquisitively at him.

"Yeah, I finish tomorrow. Why?"

He looked away and smiled. "No reason. Just wondering."

Sora walked me up to my front yard and said goodbye. I went into my house and watched him jog down the street through the window. I let the curtain fall back into place.

Well, that was odd. Why would he care if I had more detention?


	5. Chapter 5

I didn't get much sleep that night. I had terrible dreams about zombies covered in ketchup following me around. They chased me until I reached that familiar lamp post. This time, several people were under it. I called out to them, but they didn't respond. It was like I was screaming from under water, and I couldn't get the sound across. I felt a zombie grab my shoulder . . .

"Kairi, sweetie pie! It's time to get up!" Ugh. Even worse than a zombie – it was my _mother_. I muttered something about five more minutes and pulled the covers over my head.

"Oh, no, honey! You have to face a brand new day! The birds are singing, the sun is shining, and you have to get ready for school!" She pulled the covers off of me with a flourish. The room was freezing cold without the blankets, which I tried to convey to my mother through a series of angrily murmured protests.

She didn't get the message. "Ah, that's better." She said as I propped myself up on my elbows. I stared sleepily at her as she closely inspected me. She reached out and turned my head from side to side. "Are you feeling all right? You look a little flushed. And you're all cranky this morning. Are you on your per--"

"Mom! One, that's none of your business, and two, get out now, please! And I'm always cranky in the morning."

She put her hands on her hips. "Now, Kairi, no need to get upset. I'm only trying to keep in your best interests. Oh, and I'm going to work a little early today, so don't freak out and call all our friends trying to find me, like you did last time."

I stared dryly at her. "Mom, I was like, eight last time."

What a pep talk, mom.

I hurried out to school, practically sprinting to get there. My hair had gotten stuck in the door of my bathroom, and then I had fallen down the stairs. So if I was late, I could just blame it on my bad karma.

Luckily, time was on my side. I made it to English class right before the bell rang. Hayner turned around as I stumbled into the room. He looked a bit puzzled at my appearance. I mouthed the words "rough morning" at him. He nodded sympathetically, and turned around in his seat. I breathed out a sigh of relief.

Well, at least I'd made it on time.

I had tests in math and science, and then I had lunch. Thank God.

I bought a slice of pizza and a Coke and headed to our table. Hayner, Pence, and Roxas were already there. I smiled and took my usual seat near the end of the table. A chorus of "Hey." "Hi, Kairi." "What's up?" greeted me as I got settled in.

"Not much with me. What's up with you guys?" I asked around a mouthful of pizza. They all shrugged simultaneously. I found this to be very funny, so of course I immediately began choking on my food. Pence reached out and slapped me on the back a few times, and I swallowed convulsively. After a few deep breaths, I looked around at the concerned faces and grinned.

"I'm good. It's fine." I said flippantly. They stared at me blankly.

"You know, Kairi, you're the only one in the world who finds choking funny." Roxas said sarcastically. I laughed at him. "I don't think it's funny when it happens to other people, just when it happens to me." I said dryly. He shook his head, bemused, and took a sip of water.

Namine and Olette strolled up to the table and sat down. "Hey guys!" Olette chirped. Namine managed a small smile at all of us. We all waved at them.

Olette began to speak rapidly. "Okay, so guys, I have the best idea about what to do after school tomorrow." She paused to take a bite of her salad. "We can all go to Sunset Hill and hang out until they start this majorly awesome fireworks display for the town. It's the 125th anniversary of Twilight Town's creation! There'll be music and lights and food everywhere. So, what do you guys think?"

"That sounds awesome." I said enthusiastically. Hayner and Pence grinned and nodded. Namine smiled and said "I'm in." Roxas glanced at Namine and shrugged. "Guess that means I'm in too."

Olette clapped her hands together. "That's great! We can all meet up at around five thirty at the train station and take the train to the hill." She excitedly drummed her fingers on the table and took an enormous bite of salad.

I smiled to myself. A festival. Now that would be awesome.

Sora sat high up in a tree in the quad, letting the wind rock him from side to side. He wondered how he should execute his plan.

He could always set off a smoke bomb, but that would be unnecessary and flashy. Or maybe he could simply pull the fire alarm. But that was way more trouble than it was worth. He could just shove a few freshmen into lockers, but that might not be enough.

He leaned his head back against the tree trunk and sighed. He wished he had some of Riku's knowledge of the school system. _Wait a second, _he thought, _Riku._

A grin split his face from ear to ear. That was perfect. If his original plan didn't work, Riku's forgery skills would definitely come in handy . . .

The rest of the day passed quickly. I managed to get most of my homework done during my free period, knowing that I wouldn't be able to do any in detention.

The final bell rang much too soon for my liking. I let out a deep breath and packed up my stuff. The other students all made their way to the exits, except the kids who had clubs or detention. I slowly made my down the hall to room 247, willing myself to just calm down and deal with it. It felt like an anvil of dread had settled on my chest.

I reached the door and stopped. Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open.

As my eyes adjusted to the slightly dimmer light, I counted seven kids in the room. Four of them were people I didn't recognize, but the three in the back were horribly familiar. Axel smiled as I walked in, sending shivers down my spine. Larxene was practically in his lap. Lexaeus gave me an unholy grin and cracked his knuckles loudly.

The mousy teacher called out attendance, and then sat down at her desk, her back to the window. She began scribbling fiercely on a piece of paper and seemed to forget that any of us were there.

I glanced behind me at the Organization members. Axel was leaning back in his seat, his feet up on the desk in front of him. His green eyes locked onto mine, and he smiled lazily. He was acting like a cat that had all the time in the world to catch the mouse. Guess who the mouse is?

Right. Me.

I turned back around and stared out the window, wondering if I could just run away like I had yesterday. The leaves outside the window were rustling smoothly in the breeze, reflecting a bit of sunlight. It looked so peaceful.

Suddenly, there was a slight disturbance in the bushes. I craned my neck a little, trying to see what it was. Then it disappeared, whatever it was.

I closed my eyes for a second. Great, Kairi, I thought. Now you're imagining things. I opened up my eyes and stared at the floor, trying to organize my thoughts.

_Tap. Tap_.

I jerked my head up at the slight sound. I looked around, wondering what that sound had been. I swept my gaze past the teacher to the window.

And my eyes almost bugged out of my head.

Sora was standing on tiptoe, trying to see into the classroom through the narrow window. He had been jumping up and down and waving his arms over his head, trying to get my attention. He grinned that silly grin of his and waved. I was too stunned to do anything. I glanced at the teacher, who was still too absorbed in her work to notice anything.

I looked back at him and waved slowly, completely astonished. He mouthed the words "come on" at me and beckoned toward the window. It took me a moment before I realized that he wanted me to sneak out of detention – with the teacher five feet away. I frowned slightly and shook my head. He waved me over again, a little impatiently this time. I shook my head more firmly.

He looked like he was concentrating hard for a second, then his expression cleared. He smiled at me and held up one finger. He mouthed "one sec" at me and disappeared.

I stared at the spot where he had been standing, as if I could make him reappear by looking hard enough. I blinked and sat back in my chair, totally bewildered. I was just beginning to think that he had gone home or something when there was a soft knock on the door.

The small mousy teacher snapped out of her work frenzy and stood up. She crossed to the door and opened it. Sora stood there, trying his best to keep a straight face, and said solemnly "Uh, is there a miss Avery in here? She has been pardoned from detention by vice principal Sheffield." He held up a small slip of paper.

Huh?

The mousy teacher took it and inspected it closely. "Are you sure this is Mr. Sheffield's handwriting?" She turned and walked over to her desk and began rummaging through the papers. "I believe I have a handwriting sample of his somewhere in here," she muttered.

I glanced from her to Sora. He caught the look and grinned like an idiot. I looked quizzically at him, and he mouthed "Riku wrote it" at me.

I felt my eyes widen. Man, I thought, she's gonna kill you when she finds out that it's fake! I tried to convey this with a series of semi-discreet hand gestures and warning looks. He raised his hands defensively and made the universal "whoa Nelly" sign. "It's okay" he mouthed. He motioned with his chin at the teacher, who had found the handwriting sample.

"Here it is!" She compared the two carefully. After a few moments, she seemed doubtful, but she looked up and scanned the faces in the room until she found me. "Miss Avery, you are free to go." She said slowly. I stared blankly at her. That had actually worked?

"Uh, thanks." I mumbled quickly. I grabbed my bag and bolted for the door, afraid she would change her mind or something. The teacher smiled and said "Have a nice after noon." I partially turned and half smiled back. As I was closing the door, I caught a glimpse of the Organization's expressions.

Axel's eyes were flashing in anger and irritation. Larxene's mouth was hanging open, and Lexaeus looked confused, like he couldn't quite grasp what was going on.

I almost cracked up.

Halfway down the hallway, when we were out of earshot, Sora exploded into maniacal laughter. "I … can't believe … that actually … worked!" he managed. I didn't know how to respond to this, so I just smiled.

"The look that teacher gave me …! It was priceless." He wiped at his eyes a little. I couldn't help but giggle. It _had_ been funny. I pulled open the door leading to the parking lot and stepped into the warm sunshine. Sora seemed to have finally regained his composure, so I ventured a question.

"Why did you do that for me? I mean, it was totally awesome," I said quickly, not wanting to seem ungrateful, "but you didn't need to do that."

He cocked his head to one side and looked a little baffled. "Of course I did. It wouldn't have been right to pretend that you didn't need some help. So, I provided some assistance." He looked away suddenly. "And … I don't like seeing you hurt."

It took a moment for those words to sink in. As soon as my brain finally registered what he had said, I felt myself blush a little. "Uh, thanks." I murmured.

"Yeah." He stuffed his hands in his pockets. He looked over at me and grinned. Just as suddenly as it had come, the feeling of tension was gone. That was one of the things I liked about Sora – he was always happy and smiling, and was just easy to be around. We set off toward my house, completely comfortable in each others' company.

After fifteen minutes of talking about everything and nothing in particular, we arrived in front of my house. I paused, not wanting to leave Sora outside. I looked over at him. "Hey, do you want to come in for a minute? I don't think my mom would mind."

He looked up in surprise. It took him a couple of seconds to respond. "Ah, I've got some stuff I need to do." He said a little regretfully. "Thanks for the offer, though." "You sure?" I asked. He shook his head ruefully. "Yeah, I better go back to the hangout. Some new stuff just got in." I didn't know what _new stuff _ was, and I wasn't sure I wanted to, so I didn't ask.

I admit, I was a little disappointed. But, he had other plans, and it would be rude to keep him from them. I smiled. "Well, maybe next time."

He laughed. "Next time? What, you're gonna need to be rescued from detention again?" I grimaced. "Yep. Definitely." I said sarcastically. We both laughed.

Sora sobered a bit. "Hey, try to be careful, okay? Otherwise Riku's going to start charging you for every note." I grinned at him. "Yeah. I promise." I looked at the ground for a second. "Thanks again for helping me so much the past few days. It was really sweet of you." He shrugged. "No problem."

And, for a split second, I'm pretty sure I lost my mind entirely. I mean, my following behavior was just so irrational that it could not be explained.

Before I could clearly form a thought, I had gotten up on my tiptoes and kissed Sora on the cheek.

Realizing what I had just done, I quickly pulled back, completely shocked and mortified. Sora blinked rapidly, turning almost as red as my hair. I felt my own face heat up like a furnace.

"Well, uh, yeah, I gotta go now." I stuttered quickly. Sora nodded emphatically. "Yeah, uh, s-see ya." We simultaneously turned and walked away from each other. I headed in through the front door, and he took off down the street. As soon as I had slammed the door shut behind me, I leaned back against it and slid to the floor.

Oh, my God, I had just kissed Sora! Well, on the cheek, but _still_! I felt light-headed and giddy and nauseous all at the same time. I couldn't decide if it was a really crappy feeling or a super-awesome fantastic feeling.

Either way, I didn't really care. I was too happy to even see straight.

Sora walked down the street in a daze. All he could feel was a tingly numbness tinged with complete bliss.

He was mulling over this when a loud blast from a car horn interrupted him. He looked around. How had he ended up in the middle of the street? He waved apologetically and let the car go past. He waited there for a moment and continued walking home.

Sora shook his head. Kairi was turning into the most interesting girl he had ever met.

* * *

Half an hour later, the hangout came into view. Sora jogged across the lawn and let himself in. Riku was sitting on the couch, playing the newly 'acquired' Xbox, a can of beer next to him. He glanced up as Sora walked in. "Hey man. Where've you been?"

Sora shrugged. "Oh, you know, saving damsels in distress from the horrors of detention. The usual." Riku paused the game and turned, fixing his eyes on Sora. "Okay. You'd better elaborate on that. Did the teacher buy it?"

Sora sat on the couch and told him what had transpired, hesitating slightly before the part about Kairi kissing him. At the end of the story, Riku sat back and regarded Sora thoughtfully. "You know I like her, man, but are you sure this is a good idea?" Sora nodded, not sure if he liked where this was going.

Riku looked at the floor, then up at Sora. "Look, personally I don't see a problem with you hanging out with her. I mean, I hang out with her too and stuff. But I've been thinking, and the last time I had this conversation with somebody, some pretty bad stuff--"

"That's not gonna happen." Sora cut him off stonily. Riku glared at him. "Namine got the worst of that deal by a long shot. Look, I know you think you can protect her from the others, but how long do you think that'll last? Two weeks? A month? Namine hadn't done anything to them, and look what they did to her. What do you think they would do to Kairi? She's insulted them and punched Axel _twice_, and she's gotten away with it so far."

Sora flinched. He hadn't considered that. The images from a cell phone began to surface in his mind. He quickly shut it down.

"It won't happen this time. I know it." Sora said defiantly. Riku shook his head angrily. "You don't get it. Roxas was sure he could date Namine without consequences. He said most of the things you're saying now. You promised him that you'd help keep Namine safe. Remember?" When Sora only stared coldly back at him, Riku sighed. He knew he would have to say something awful to make his friend understand. It would hurt, but it was important.

"And, as I recall, _you_ were the one that gave Axel the idea in the first place. What if it was Kairi and not Namine, huh? What if Roxas couldn't control his drinking and let something slip? What if Roxas, not you, had said 'We should give her a big welcome, show her what the Organization's _really_ like?'"

The final words echoed throughout the room. "What makes you think you can protect Kairi if you couldn't even save Namine?"

Sora took each word like a knife stabbing him. He felt his mask crack, but only for a moment. Feigning indifference, he shrugged and said "Look, I'm not gonna have this argument now. I'm going to bed. Later." He got shakily to his feet and staggered toward the hallway with the bedrooms.

Riku felt the pain and guilt rise even as he said his next words. "Fine. But when you have those nightmares tonight, just picture Kairi's face instead of Namine's."

Sora just managed to slam the door shut behind him before the mask crumbled and fell away. Silently shaking, he collapsed on the bed and let all his barriers down.

Everything came rushing back – every last detail. He sank down into memories of despair, the darkness closing over his head.

_Crushing the last can of beer and throwing it across the dark room. The cell phone starts ringing – he has a new message. Time: 11:43 pm. _

_He opens the phone, clicks on the new message. Those pictures of her, broken and battered on the ground. The other, worse pictures . . . _

_Calling Roxas. Telling him what's going on. "I'll be right there. Why aren't you there?" _

_Why? Because he can't see straight he's so wasted. He also can't betray the only ones who gave a damn about him, who had cared for him when no one else had. He couldn't bring himself to give up the only family he had. He couldn't bear the idea of being alone again._

_But he had promised. . . _

Sora made himself block it out. He pulled the pieces back together. He put the mask of humor and indifference firmly in its place. _Just keep smiling. It will all be better. _

That night, the nightmares weren't of a small blond girl – the girl had red hair.

**A/N:**

**Wow. That was really dark. Sorry guys! **

**Sorry it took me so long to update. I went on vacation and got a ton of homework the second I got back.**

**Next chapter coming soon – hopefully it will be more cheerful! **

**Keep those reviews coming – I love all your comments, and I need to hear what you think of it.**


	6. Chapter 6

I actually slept really well that night. No nightmares or anything. I woke up the next morning before my alarm went off, feeling refreshed and looking forward to the day. For a brief moment, I worried that I was turning into my mother, but I quickly discarded the thought. There was no way I would turn into my mother. Ever.

I showered and got dressed. I passed my mother as I was walking down the stairs. She was wearing her fluffy bathrobe and slippers, and was clutching her coffee mug like it held the secrets of life.

She looked shocked when she saw me. "Kairi! What are you doing up so early? I was just coming up to get you." I smiled and shrugged. "I guess I just got enough rest last night. Anyway, I'm going to school a little early today. Is that all right with you?"

She nodded slowly and managed a smile. "Of course, sweetie. And I'm so proud of you for getting yourself up. Try to do that every day!" she teased.

I laughed and headed downstairs. I grabbed a bagel and a water bottle out of the fridge, and slipped on my shoes. I practically inhaled the bagel and grabbed my backpack off the floor. "Bye mom!" I called up the stairs.

I heard a muffled reply. I grinned and went out the front door.

* * *

Sora had slept terribly. The shouting of several of the other Organization members woke him up right before that same nightmare played through his head again.

He groaned and rolled out of bed. He had slept in his clothes, so he didn't need to change. He shuffled into the bathroom to brush his teeth and splash some water on his face. Feeling more awake, he joined the others for breakfast.

As he entered the small kitchen, the angry shouting became clear. "—I want it back, _now_!" Larxene was shrieking at Xigbar. He chuckled and held a neon green and yellow cell phone just out of her reach.

"Yeah, right. Why should I give it back? When was the last time you went on a mission and _earned_ it?" He taunted, waving the phone back and forth.

Larxene seethed. Faster than Sora's eyes could follow, she cracked her hand across Xigbar's face. He looked stunned, and then furious. He was about to slap her when Axel appeared out of nowhere and put him in a headlock. In a dangerously calm voice, he said "Xigbar, what are you doing? That's my girlfriend, you know. You were very close to crossing a line just now. How would you like a brand new scar for your collection?"

Xigbar ceased his struggling. "I wouldn't." he grumbled. Axel smiled. "Good. Now give her back the phone." Xigbar held the phone out and Larxene snatched it up. Sora heard her mutter "dumb bastard" under her breath. Axel released Xigbar and went back to his seat at the table.

Sora shook his head and went out to the front room of the house. Riku was already there, sitting in his usual spot on the couch. Sora sat on the other end of the sofa, as far away from him as possible.

Riku glanced up at him as he sat down. He turned off the T.V. and turned to face him. "Hey."

"Hey." Sora stared into space, not looking at him. Riku let out a deep breath and stared at the floor. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't have any right to bring that up. It wasn't fair. I take it back, okay? I'm sorry." He said quietly. Sora blinked and glanced over at him. Riku avoided his eyes, the guilt written all over his face.

Sora rested his forearms on his knees and shook his head. He knew that he'd been the one in the wrong. "Look, don't worry about it, okay? Let's just forget about it."

Riku seemed to relax. "So, we're all good, right?" Sora was silent for a moment. Then he smiled tiredly at him and said "Yeah, we're cool."

Riku smiled. Suddenly a plate crashed into the wall above the sofa, shattering into hundreds of pieces. The shouting had resumed in the kitchen. Riku and Sora glanced at each other, and by silent consent they both grabbed their bags and ran from the wrath of Larxene..

Halfway down the block, they stopped to catch their breath. Sora glanced over at Riku and grinned.

"Well, that was an interesting way to start the day."

* * *

I made it to school twenty minutes early. I didn't really have much else to do, so I went to the administrative offices to pick up a sign-up sheet for track. I looked over the list of questions as I went down to my locker. There were at least six questions my mom had to answer, so I stuffed the sheet into my backpack and sat down in front of my locker.

I leaned my head back and thought about – ahem – what had _accidentally_ occurred yesterday. Every time I thought about it, I wanted to curl into a ball and die or jump up and down like a crazy six year old.

I sighed. Well, just don't act like anything happened. I reasoned with myself. I bet it happens to him all the time. He's probably forgotten all about it.

I know. I have terrible self-confidence issues.

The bell rang, and a flood of students came my way. Scrambling out of the way, I grabbed my bag and headed to English.

Hayner sat down in the desk next to me. I smiled at him. "Hey, Hayner. What's up?" I asked politely.

He seemed a little excited and eager. "Kairi, you're never gonna believe this. Have you heard the news?" I shook my head no. He pulled a newspaper out of his bag and began to read an article on the second page. "_On the western side of Twilight Town, two suspected gang members were caught in the act of grand-theft auto. Several incidents had been reported earlier this month, but the culprits had never been found. Last night at around 1:30 am, a woman contacted the police when she saw two suspicious figures attempting to steal her neighbor's car. The police arrived on the scene a few minutes later. Marluxia Stevens, age 22, and Xaldin Salvador, age 23, were arrested on the corner of Postern and Fifth Street. They are suspected of at least five cases of grand-theft auto and two cases of breaking and entering."_

Hayner took a deep breath and grinned. "Isn't that great news? Kairi, this is huge! Two Organization members were arrested! And there are witnesses, so there's no getting out of it." He sat back in his chair and handed me the paper. I recognized the one guy with the dreadlocks. He'd been at the mall that day. The other guy, the one with pink hair, looked familiar. I had seen him drive past the school a couple of times.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully, the rest of the Organization would soon be behind bars as well. With two exceptions, of course.

* * *

I stumbled my way through math and science, not really caring what was being said. I don't ever really pay attention in those classes, if you haven't noticed. Finally, the lunch bell rang, and I trudged off to the cafeteria.

On the way to the lunch table, I almost got tackled by Cloud and Zack, two of the seniors from the basketball game. "Ack!" was all I could manage. They released my backpack and got a good look at me. "Aw, crap, Zack. Now look what ya did!" Cloud said in mock exasperation. "Sorry. We thought you were Aerith."

I stared at them, eyebrows raised. Aerith? As in, Aerith _Gainsborough_? She was one of the prettiest seniors at the school, and one of the nicest, if I remember correctly. I had met her at the game. How had they made that mistake?

Zack shrugged carelessly and smiled. "My bad. You guys look the same from the back." Cloud took this opportunity to tackle him. "You moron. They look nothing alike!" They both laughed good-naturedly while they shoved each other around. I smiled at them.

"Anyways, guys, I've gotta go," I said quickly. "I'm meeting my friends for lunch. I'll see you later." Cloud looked up from his chokehold on Zack and nodded. "Say hi to my sister for me, will ya?" I nodded and left the two to their squabbling.

I finally reached the table and plunked into my seat. Namine looked up from her sandwich. "Hello Kairi."

"Hey, Namine. Your brother says hi. He was just about to tackle me back there." I said dryly. Her pale blue eyes widened. "Oh, I'm sorry. Are you okay?" she asked, her voice apologetic. I waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it." That's the least of my problems. "Anyway, where is everybody?"

She tilted her head to one side. "Well, Pence and Roxas went to buy lunch, and the last time I saw Hayner and Olette, they were making googly eyes at each other in the quad." She stifled a giggle. "They are so cute together. They're crazy bout each other."

I smiled. This was true. Hayner and Olette seemed designed for each other. I looked over to my left and saw Roxas and Pence walking up with their trays of food. I waved to each of them. Pence grinned and said "Hey, guys." Roxas just nodded in my general direction and kissed the side of Namine's head. She blushed and smiled shyly.

Now _there's_ a couple designed for each other.

As I was digging into my food like a rabid bear, Hayner and Olette walked up. Olette began chatting rapid-fire at us before she even sat down. "Okay, guys, I've already figured out what we're gonna do today. We're all gonna meet up at 5:30 at Sunset Hill. Kairi, do you know where that is?" I thought for a second, and shook my head.

She frowned slightly, concentrating. Olette may not seem like it sometimes, but she's one of the smartest kids in our group.

"Oh, I know!" She said excitedly. "You can hitch a ride with Namine after she leaves work. Is that all right with you, Namine?" Namine grinned and said "Fine by me. The more the merrier."

Olette nodded approvingly. "Okay, then. We'll all meet up at 5:30. And everyone remember to bring some money!" We all nodded in unison.

The rest of lunch's conversation was centered around our plans for the afternoon, and about the two Organization members' arrest. This, I'll admit, was pretty freakin' awesome.

* * *

Sora was hanging upside down from a tree in the quad. Riku was twenty feet below him, leaning against the trunk of the tree. Riku looked up at him and smiled wryly. "Dude, you look like a mutated monkey."

Sora grinned and threw a piece of broken branch at him. "At least my momma wasn't a mutated monkey, like yours." Riku made a face as he sidestepped the branch. "Okay, that's it. You are so dead, Sora." He began clambering up the tree.

Sora saw him coming and righted himself on the branch. He carefully stood up and waited just long enough for Riku to reach the top of the tree. Then, he took a flying leap into the nearest tree, landing lightly on his feet. Riku swore and stared.

"Sora, are you sure _your_ momma wasn't part monkey? Man, how do you do that?" he called a bit sulkily. Sora grinned and rolled his shoulders. "I've always been able to do this. You know that."

Riku rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know. But it's still majorly impressive." Sora laughed and swung down through the branches to the ground. Riku took a bit more time making his way down. Riku shook his head at Sora. "Man, I used to be the best at this stuff, and then you came along." He said jokingly. "It's like you're a cat and I'm the cat's slightly larger and ungainly friend."

Sora cracked up, leaning against the tree for support. Composing himself, he ran a hand through his hair and said "Hey, are we still going to the festival?" Riku nodded. "Yeah. Unless you want to waste a perfectly good Friday night sitting on your ass."

Sora sighed and looked sullen. "Okay. You could've just said yes."

* * *

I was wound as tightly as a rubber band ball by the end of school. It felt like the clock wanted to move as slowly as possible, so that the festival would never happen. When the bell rang, I catapulted out of my seat and rushed down to my locker.

I tossed most of my books carelessly into my locker, taking only my math and English stuff home. After I slammed my locker shut, I set off at a brisk walk down the hall and up the stairs to the parking lot doors. I pushed them open and stepped into the early afternoon sunshine. I took a deep breath and smiled. It was a perfect day outside.

As I was walking home, making plans for the festival, I felt like nothing could go wrong.

* * *

When I got home, I left the track team sign up sheet on the table for my mom to read and went upstairs. I was pondering whether I should change my clothes or not when I heard a small noise.

I stood stock still in the hallway. There it was again. It sounded like there were footsteps in _my bedroom_. Was it my mom? No. Her car wasn't in the driveway, and we didn't have any pets. The footsteps came again.

Totally freaked out, I silently went into my mom's room and grabbed her old wooden baseball bat. Creeping slowly forward, I waited to hear the sounds again. There! It came from the other side of my room, away from the closed door. I carefully turned the door handle. I threw open the door and rushed forward, holding the bat like a weapon.

The intruder and I both screamed in surprise and fright. "Kairi!" "Sora?!"

Completely and utterly mortified, I dropped the bat and covered my mouth. "Oh my God, Sora. You gave me a heart attack." Sora was recovering from his shock with his hands on his knees. He looked up at me and said "You know, you weren't the only one who had a heart attack." He said sarcastically.

I shook my head dazedly and leaned back against the doorframe. It took me a second to realize something important. Looking at him with a mix of anger and bafflement, I said "Hey, how the hell did you get into my room?"

He looked a bit sheepish. He pointed to my window and the tree just outside of it. "It's a good climbing tree." He mumbled. I just stared at him. "But how did you get the window open? I always lock it." Then I noticed a screwdriver, a long, thin piece of metal, and a hairpin laying on the floor under the window..

I snapped my gaze back at him. He looked remarkably like a little boy who'd just been caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar. I let out a breath through my teeth. "Okay. What do you want, Sora?"

He ran the back of his hand under his nose. "Well, uh, I just wanted to see if you were going to the festival today. You know, at Sunset Hill."

I felt my face go blank. What? He'd broken into my house to answer that? I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Yes, Sora. I'm going today. But I have one question. Why on earth didn't you use the door?"

He looked a little puzzled. "I guess I didn't think of that. But isn't the door locked?" I pointed out to him that he climbed a tree and crawled into the house through a window that was locked.

He tilted his head to the side and grinned crookedly. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He said it so flippantly that I had to smile. I just can't stay upset with him.

He nodded in satisfaction. "Anyway, I've gotta get going. I'll see you at the festival, Kairi." And before I could warn him to be careful, he jumped out the window and into the tree. He swung his feet over the side and landed gracefully on the ground. He looked back at me and waved as he jogged away.

I waved back, feeling a little strange. Sora had just been in my room, and I had no idea what to make of it. But I knew if my mom found out I'd had a boy in my room, she'd flip out. So I set to cleaning up the floor where he'd tracked dirt with his oversized shoes/

Happily I thought to myself; _I think he likes me_.

* * *

Sora bounced with every step that he took. He felt light as the air. Whistling one of his favorite songs, he pulled out his phone and began texting Riku about their plans for the day.

He smiled when he remembered the way she'd come charging in. She wasn't afraid to defend herself, to the extent that he felt sorry for whoever made her lose her temper. He liked that about her.

Still smiling happily to himself, he thought _Nothing can go wrong today. I know it._


	7. Chapter 7

I finally got the last of the mud stains out of the carpet and had disposed of all other evidence that Sora had been there when my mother got home. I heard her car in the driveway and ran downstairs to the kitchen. I seized my backpack and threw it into a chair at the table. I had just managed to open up one of my textbooks and began to pretend to read when she came in through the front door.

"Hey, sweetie pie! How was your day?" she asked cheerfully. I feigned surprise and looked up at her. "Oh, hey, Mom. I didn't hear you come in. My day was okay, how about you?"

She clapped her hands together gleefully. "Oh, you'll never believe it! There are going to be booths selling various crafts at the fair, right? Well, my coworkers and I are going to have a booth selling some of our artwork! Isn't that wonderful?"

I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. "That's great, Mom. Where is it going to be?" She bustled around the kitchen, fixing something to eat. "Hmmm? Oh, it's going to be near the center of the festivities at Sunset Hill. It's right next to a booth selling artwork from a family-owned studio by the mall. Have you been there yet, honey?"

I felt my stomach drop through the floor. My mother was going to be _right next to_ Namine's booth? I inwardly groaned. There was no escaping the inevitable. She was going to see all of my friends, and possibly Sora, which would _not_ be a good thing. I very slowly placed my forehead on the table, fighting off an oncoming headache.

"Kairi, sweetie, is something wrong?" I sighed. If only she knew. "No, Mom, nothing is wrong."

* * *

I finished my homework inn record time and called Namine.

"Hey, Namine? It's me, Kairi."

"Oh, hey, Kairi. What's up?"

"Um, I have a favor to ask. Could you possibly pick me up ten minutes early? You don't have to if you don't want to, but it would be a big help."

"Sure, I don't have a problem with that. Is something the matter?"

"Not really. I'm just trying to escape my mother."

I heard her ringing laughter on the other end. I dragged one hand across my eyes in exasperation. Eventually she stopped giggling and calmed herself.

"Sorry about that. Anyways, I'll pick you up in twenty minutes. Is that all right with you?"

"Yeah, that's great with me. See you in a few."

"Bye Kairi."

"See you later."

I hung up the phone and heaved a sigh of relief. If we got there early enough, maybe we could avoid seeing my mom altogether. We could visit Namine's stand and get the heck away from there before she even showed up. It's not that I don't love my mom, I do, but I didn't feel like being embarrassed in front of my friends.

I passed the next twenty minutes playing around with my computer and staring at the clock. I was so ready to explode by the time 5:00 came around. When I saw Namine's silvery blue car pull up in front of the house, I shot out of my chair and flew down the stairs.

"I'm going to the festival, Mom. Love you!" I called over my shoulder as I slammed the door behind me.

I jumped down the steps and landed on the front walk. I straightened up and walked briskly to Namine's car. I pulled open the passenger door and slid into the seat. As she drove away from the house, I relaxed a little. With each passing second we were getting closer to the festival, the only thing that had kept me awake during school.

Namine glanced over at me. "Hey, are you all right? You seemed like you were in a hurry to leave today." I began to play with the dials on the radio. "Yeah, I'm fine. I told you I was eager to get away from my mom."

She laughed and nodded. "Yeah, I remember that." Suddenly her phone began to ring. "Hey, can you get that? Sorry; I'm sort of a nervous driver." I smiled and reached for the phone. The caller I.D. said Olette Is Awesome. I raised an eyebrow. "Uh, the caller I.D. says 'Olette Is Awesome.' I'm guessing she was the one who put that in your phone?"

Namine smiled fondly. "Yeah, she did. She did that to everyone's phone." I was glad that she hadn't gotten a hold of my cell phone yet. I flipped the phone open and hit the send button. "Hello?"

"Hey, Namine, it's Olette. Did you pick up Kairi yet?"

"Um, actually, it's me, Kairi. Yeah, she picked me up like two minutes ago."

"Oh, sorry about that. Are you guys on your way here?"

"Yep, we're ten minutes away from the parking lot. Is everyone else there already?"

"Mm-hmm. Yeah, Hayner, Pence, and Roxas are all here behind me. Say hi, guys!"

New voices came slightly muffled through the phone, like they were standing far away from the speaker. "Hey Kairi, its Pence." "Hayner here." "Hey, Kairi. Is Namine there?" This was from Roxas.

"Uh, she's here. Do you want to talk to her?"

"Please."

"Oh, one thing first. Is, um, Sora there? Have you seen him around?"

There was silence on the other end. Then, curtly, "Can I talk to Namine? It's important." Roxas's words bore that cold, razor sharp edge that scared the crap out of me. Without another word, I handed the phone over to Namine. She gingerly placed the phone next to her ear and said "Hello? Oh, hi Roxas. Yeah, I'm okay. Why?" A brief pause. She frowned slightly. "No, I didn't know that. But I think you should try to allow for these things to happen." I heard him speaking urgently about something on the other line.

Namine took a deep breath. "No, I don't believe that. Look, I know you're trying to help, but--" I heard him raise his voice over the phone. Namine looked a little irritated. She looked over at me as we came to a red light. "He wants to know if anything has happened to you in the past few days."

I immediately went on red alert. My temper flared for a moment, but I suppressed the urge to scream at him to shut up and mind his own business. I knew it was a bad idea to get him involved with any of this, so I pretended to consider the question. "No, nothing recently."

Namine looked triumphant. "She says nothing recently. Hey, what kind of a question is that? I am _not_ going to check her for bruises or odd markings." I very discreetly pushed some stray hair over the back of my neck. The bruise was mostly faded, but I wasn't taking any chances.

"Roxas, I don't understand this. Why are you so angry at him?" Her voice lowered and softened. "He didn't do anything. It wasn't his fault. I know you need to let your anger out, but why him?" By this time, I was completely enraptured by the conversation, and I was straining to hear every word. I mean, there was only one person I could think of that they could be talking about. And I was curious to know – why _was_ Roxas so angry at Sora all the time?

Namine waited patiently for him to answer. All I could hear was the mumbling on the other line. Namine smiled kindly. "I know that it's easier to take things out on the ones you're closest to, but you can't just hate someone for no reason. Try to be nice to him, okay?" I heard something like 'I'll try harder next time.'

Her smile broadened. "Yeah, we'll be there soon. I love you too." She clapped the phone shut and sighed. After a few moments of silence, I blurted without thinking–at _all_– "Why are they always bugging people about me? Why should they care about who I hang out with so much?"

Namine shook her head and smiled ruefully. "Because they don't want you to end up like me." she said quietly.

I felt my eyes go wide. I turned sharply towards her, realizing what I had just said. "Oh, God, Namine, I didn't mean anything by that. I am so sorry – I-I didn't think . . . I'm so sorry." I had said some stupid stuff in my time, but this was one of my crowning moments of idiocy.

She shrugged, the smile faltering a little. "It's okay. I know you didn't mean it." She made a courageous effort to grin, and almost succeeded. Almost.

She paused briefly before continuing. "I know that it might seem overbearing sometimes, but all of us breathing down your neck is for your protection. We don't want anything bad to . . . happen." Her eyes unfocused for an instant. She spoke oddly, as if remembering a dream – or a nightmare. Like she was repeating what someone else had told her many times.

"You could be very careful on your own, but you want others to be with you at all times. It's not safe. All it takes is one wrong turn and . . ." Her shoulders hunched and her light blue eyes clouded over with some broken memory of pain. Her breathing came more quickly, and I worried that she might hyperventilate. Suddenly, we sped up, going 40 miles per hour in a 20 mile per hour zone. 41 miles per hour . . . 43 miles per hour . . . 46 miles per hour . . . 50 miles per hour . . .

"Namine, slow down, you're going to kill us!" I shouted. Namine didn't seem to hear me, because our speed kept increasing. I tore my gaze from the road to look at her. She seemed frozen in her own mind, like someone had trapped her there. She sat unmoving, staring straight ahead.

I knew this would end badly if I didn't do something. I took hold of the steering wheel in one hand and grabbed her arm with the other. "Namine! Come on, snap out of it!" I pleaded desperately.

She stirred a little and murmured something. "What?" I practically shrieked. She blinked slowly and said a little more loudly "Have to get Roxas. Need Roxas."

I stared, completely uncomprehending. I tried to activate the emergency brake and get her to wake up at the same time. I swerved the car in time to avoid a dead end street. We were going 60 miles per hour. "Namine, _snap out of it!" _ I screamed, wrenching at the emergency brake.

"Have to find Roxas. Need to get Roxas!" she cried hysterically. She repeated this several times. I finally gained control over the brakes and brought the car to a jarring halt. My head snapped forward and almost connected with the dashboard. Namine was slammed against the steering wheel, but not hard enough to be seriously injured.

As soon as I could think straight, I threw myself out of the car and ran around to Namine's side. I yanked the door open and pulled a dazed Namine out of the car. I grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Namine, I need you to look at me. Namine!" She was totally unresponsive. She began to rock back and forth. I just was about to let go of her so I could run to the car to call in some help, but she blinked a little and seemed to focus on me. She looked back at the car and at the skid marks on the pavement behind it, and turned her frightened and shocked gaze back to me. Her large blue eyes filled with tears, and she began to sob. "I'm sorry I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

I let go of one of her shoulders and led her over to the curb where I gently sat her down. Her knees gave out and she just sat there, rocking back and forth, the tears coming to a gradual stop. I ran back to the car and grabbed her phone. I dialed Roxas's number and rushed back to Namine.

"Hello?"

"Oh, Roxas! Thank God you picked up! Namine is in like, some sort of breakdown. We almost got into a car crash. She keeps saying your name over and over, and --"

"Where are you?'

"We're two blocks away, on the corner."

"I'll be right there."

He hung up, and I did the same. I sat on the curb next to Namine and held her like I would a small child.

* * *

We stayed like that until the others showed up in Hayner's beat up old car. Roxas didn't even wait for the car to stop, he just jumped out and came running towards us. I eased Namine over to Roxas, who glared accusingly at me. I raised my hands defensively. "I didn't make her do this. We were just driving along, I asked a question, and she just suddenly remembered – um, what happened." I cleared my throat and walked over to where the others were standing.

Olette came forward to give me a hug. "Are you all right? Roxas wouldn't tell us what happened." Hayner and Pence came to stand next to us, waiting to hear the explanation. I related the experience to them, hoping that they could tell _me _what happened.

When I finished speaking, Pence nodded slowly. "Uh huh, I see." He took my arm and led the four of us back to the cars. Making sure that Namine and Roxas were out of earshot, he explained the whole thing to me.

"Yeah, Namine used to do that all the time when she was in the hospital. Even after she got out she'd sometimes have an 'episode', as the doctors called it."

I tilted my head to the side. "Wait, what? What causes it?"

Pence shrugged, seeming embarrassed by the sudden attention he was getting from all of us. (He's kinda shy.) "It's triggered by specific memories of pain and emotional trauma. If she thinks too hard about it, or sees something or someone that ties in too closely to those events, she'll remember everything all at once, and her mind just can't handle that. I think it's kinda like a computer that suddenly receives too much bad information, and it goes into shutdown."

Well, that explains a lot. Like at the mall, she went into her protective shell so she wouldn't have to deal with it.

Hayner rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess you could say she's mentally broken, in a way. Like post traumatic stress syndrome. She can't stand being touched by any guy, except Roxas. But the most he can do is hug her and kiss the side of her head."

I mulled this over before speaking again. A question popped up in my mind, which I addressed to Olette. "Wait, why can Roxas touch her? Why did she keep calling his name?" Olette shifted from one foot to the other and chewed on the inside of her cheek. "Well, since he was the one who . . . found her and got her some help, she feels safest when she's around him. And he had been dating her before hand, so she already loved him to some degree anyway."

I looked sadly back at the two blond kids sitting on the curb. They shouldn't have to deal with any of this – it wasn't fair. I mean, we're all just kids. Most adults don't even worry about these kinds of things. I sighed and leaned against the door of Hayner's car. I could almost hear my mother screaming in my ear if she found out what kind of company I'd been keeping the past month—gang members, ex-gang members, kids with psychological trauma. You know, typical teenage stuff.

Pence moved slightly to look past me at Roxas and Namine. His expression lightened somewhat when he saw them. "Well, it looks like she'll be all right in a few minutes. It wasn't one of the bad ones this time." I just stared at him. "This wasn't one of the _bad_ ones?"

Hayner caught the look on my face and almost smiled. "Yeah. I remember Olette was driving her somewhere and she saw two Organization members outside the grocery store. She had to stay home from school the next day because of it. Kinda like when she stayed home from school after the mall incident – Roxas stayed with her then, too. Remember? Anyway, she usually recovers really quickly after a small episode like this, especially after Roxas shows up. It might sound really horrible, but that's just the way it is."

Well _that_ statement sure brightened my day.

Olette hugged me again. "I'm really sorry this happened to you. Are you sure you're all right?" I nodded, feeling a hundred years old. Olette stepped back and tried to smile reassuringly at me. Pence and Hayner both clapped me on the back.

"Well, at least you handled it really well. Olette crashed into a tree, as I recall. Right, Olette?" Hayner teased, immediately lightening the moment. She shoved him halfheartedly, starting to brighten up. Pence shook his head at the two of them and smiled at their antics.

I heaved a sigh of relief, glad that at least some things didn't change.

* * *

About fifteen minutes later, Pence, Hayner, Olette, and I had all gone back to our original selves. Soon after that, Roxas and Namine joined us.

We all quieted down and looked apprehensively at the two of them. Roxas had one arm around Namine, who appeared to be doing much better. Her eyes were clear, and she seemed aware of everything going on around her. When we asked if she was feeling better, she actually smiled briefly. "Yes, I'm doing much better."

She looked extremely concerned and apologetic as she turned to me. "Kairi, I'm so sorry. You could have been seriously hurt. Are you all right?" I nodded quickly. "Don't worry about it. I've been through worse than a little road rage." She smiled gratefully and turned to the rest of them.

"I'm sorry about the delay, guys. I didn't mean to cause any harm. Anyway, are you guys ready to go to the festival?" Roxas looked down at her in alarm. The rest of us were pretty shocked as well. Roxas looked pained. "Nami, are you sure? Are you up to it?" She laid a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.

"Of course I'm sure. I've been looking forward to it for days. I really want to go. Is that okay with you guys?" We all glanced at one another and nodded. As long as she was fine, we were fine with it.

Roxas looked as if he wanted to say something, but he kept quiet.

So I got into the car with Pence, Olette, and Hayner, while Roxas drove Namine in her car. About five minutes later, we arrived in the parking lot near the base of Sunset Hill. The sun was just beginning to set, and strings of lights were being turned on around the parking lot. It looked as though everyone in Twilight Town had shown up for the occasion. A large banner announcing "Twilight Town's 125th Anniversary" had been raised over the path leading to the various parts of Sunset Hill.

I felt like a little kid at Christmas. The smell of food was overpowering, and all the little yellow lights shone like stars. I saw people from various classes at school, and hundreds more people I didn't recognize.

The first thing we did was buy some festival food. I got a hamburger, and it was utterly delicious. I was about to buy another one when Olette grabbed my arm and began dragging me up the Hill after the others. My stomach complained bitterly, but I was curious to see the rest of the celebration.

Namine led the way to the stand containing some of her artwork, which also meant that we were being led right towards my mother. Great.

We were about three fourths of the way up the Hill when we got to the art section of the booths. There were pottery stands, where some people were watching an elderly woman making a vase. There were booths with intricate weavings of birds and plants, booths with colorful masks from African tribes, and one particular booth had life-size sculptures of wild animals. After we passed the third stand with paintings, we arrived at Namine's booth.

I picked out her artwork right away. Her work was far better than anyone else's, even the instructor's. I saw my favorite picture, the one with all the happy people walking down the street. I would have bought it in an instant, but it was unfortunately for display only.

Namine turned tentatively to us and asked "So, what do you guys think?"

Olette clasped her hands together tightly. "Oh, Namine! They're absolutely amazing!" Hayner grunted his agreement. Pence looked around in wonder. "Yeah," he said in a subdued voice. "This is totally awesome!" Roxas didn't say anything, but I don't think he needed to. He practically radiated pride and love for Namine and her work. He turned to her and smiled like I'd never seen him do before. It was actually pretty cool.

I grinned hugely and laughed. "Namine, you've really outdone yourself. You should do this for a living!" Namine blushed from all the attention she received from us. I was genuinely happy that she had this to take her mind off of things.

I had moved to the outside edges of the booth to more closely examine a picture of a delicate flower when I heard a familiar voice. And I bet it wasn't who you would expect.

"Kairi, sweetie? Is that you?" my mother chirped from the next booth. I closed my eyes for a moment, briefly entertaining the thought of hiding in some conveniently placed bushes off to my right. But reason won me over, and I stood up straight and forced a smile. "Hey, Mom."

I silently begged my friends to stay inside the enclosed booth, but the universe seems to have it in for me, so of course they all came out looking for me.

"Hey, Kairi, is everything all right?" I closed my eyes briefly and acknowledged Pence's question. "Yeah, I'm fine."

My mother peered at the kids behind me. She got this huge grin on her face and, much to my chagrin, asked me "Kairi, are these the new friends you were telling me about? Oh, they are so cute!" I felt my ears turn a burning shade of pink.

"Yeah, they are." I looked back at them apologetically. "Guys, this is my mom." For one awkward moment, no one said anything, and then Olette broke the ice by walking up to my mother and shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Avery. I'm Olette. That's Pence, Hayner, Roxas, and Namine." They each waved politely and said hello as they were introduced. Olette grinned at me – she knew she just saved my butt.

I smiled feebly back at her. I looked at my mother who was positively radiant. 'Oh, sweetie! I am so glad that you have such lovely friends. Anyways, I won't keep you kids any longer. Go and enjoy the festival! I'll see you all later." Still beaming, she turned on her heel and walked over to help a customer at the other end of her stand.

Olette flounced back over to us and smiled triumphantly. I rolled my eyes at her. "Okay, fine, I owe you one.'

* * *

Soon after that, the sun set completely over Sunset Hill, and the whole festival was lit only by the thousands of twinkling lights strung everywhere. My friends and I made our way to the top of the Hill to get the best view of the fireworks display. When we got to the top, we were only the second group there. The other group was very small, only three people.

"Seifer?" I called curiously, feeling a little stupid. The boy with the beanie hat turned around, and I saw that my assumption had been correct. Seifer and his two teammates came strolling up to us, not entirely recognizing who we were at first. Rai, the tall Hispanic one, got a good look at us and laughed. 'Hey, it's the mall girl, ya know!"

Fuu, the petite silver haired girl, nodded without changing her facial expression. "Definitely."

Seifer smirked in a way that was somehow friendly. "Well, would you look at that? Haven't managed to get into more trouble, huh?" He chuckled. I grimaced. "No. Not exactly." I lied. My friends turned and looked at me skeptically. I glared back at them, daring them to say something.

Seifer caught the look and burst out laughing. Rai joined in, and Fuu crossed her arms and raised one corner of her mouth, which I guess is the most she ever does.

After Seifer regained control of himself, he swept a critical eye over the rest of our group. His eyes lingered for a moment on Namine, and stopped dead on Roxas. Fuu followed his gaze, and her lips curled back in a snarl. Seifer's eyes narrowed and the smile disappeared. "You gotta be kidding me." Addressing me and Namine in particular, he said "Man, why do you guys still hang out with Organization trash? Haven't you had enough problems already?"

"Hey, watch it! He's not like that. He quit." I said indignantly. Seifer and his gang stared at me in disbelief. Seifer shook his head. "Once a member, always a member," he sneered. "And that's a fact."

I felt my temper flare up. "Listen, you don't have any right to say that. You have no idea what it's like, so don't pretend like you do." At this point, Rai stepped up. "Watch who you're talkin' to, ya know! Seifer's only got everybody's best interests at heart, ya know!"

Something clicked together I my brain. If Seifer was the good version of Axel, then Rai was the good version of Lexaeus. This meant that he was the muscle backing the leader. Huh. So maybe they did have a clue to what they were talking about.

I backed down. These were the good guys. I wanted them to be on my side, if I ever needed it. And let's face it; I probably would need their help some time or another. Rai, satisfied, took his honorary place at his leader's side. My friends were all staring at me, amazed that I relented so easily.

"Look, I'm sorry that my choices in friends don't meet the requirements or whatever, but I don't want any trouble." I said tiredly. "But you should really give him a chance. He's helped us a lot the past few weeks. So, let's just forget about this and enjoy the show, okay?"

The three of them glanced at each other, as if they didn't know what to make of this proposal. Eventually, Fuu was the one who nodded and said "Fine." I don't think she was capable of using more than one word at a time.

Seifer let out a deep breath. "We'll give this thing a shot. Any funny business and it's off." Rai nodded emphatically, always agreeing with whatever Seifer said. I don't think he was very intelligent.

Our individual groups settled down on opposite edges of the flat space on top of Sunset Hill. The Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee sat on the wooden fence meant to keep people from falling down the steep side of the Hill, and our group sat on the soft, thick grass near the middle of the platform.

Roxas and Namine laid on their backs to look at the stars before the fireworks came on, and Pence and Hayner got into some kind of macho contest to see who could do the most push-ups before the fireworks. Olette and I chit-chatted about nothing in particular, joking about the boys' ridiculous contest. Seifer and his gang were practically silent, watching out for any trouble on the grounds below. I wondered vaguely if they took watch over the city at night after what happened to Namine, and if they ever rested at all.

Finally, the enormous clock in Sunset Station struck 8:30 pm, and the fireworks display began. My friends and I flopped back on the grass to get a better look at the multicolored explosions. There were vivid greens and purples, light blues and golds, and strong reds and pinks. My personal favorites were the ones that looked like glittering champagne drifting down through the sky. Every time one of the fireworks went off, an earthshaking _boom_ would rattle the top of the hill.

As yet another small earthquake took place, I figured out why we were the only two groups at the top of the Hill – no one else particularly felt like going deaf. The sound of the display was positively eardrum-shattering.

As one firework went off in the shape of a smiley-face, I briefly wondered where Sora was, and if he was watching the fireworks too.

* * *

Sora was stretched out on the ground near the edge of the festivities. He was on the bottom of the steepest side of the Hill. Right above him, he could see kids' feet dangling over the edge of the wooden fence at the top of the Hill. Several Organization members were scattered around him, enraptured by the brightness of the sky. Sora looked backwards at Axel, who was staring lovingly at the fiery show. Sora turned back to the sky and shook his head.

_Axel is such a pyro_, he thought. He never went anywhere without his small metal encased lighter, even if he didn't have any cigarettes. Sora wrinkled his nose in disgust. He never had any use for cigarettes. They tasted horrible, and apparently they were really bad for you.

Just then, Riku came back from one of the concession stands with two six-packs of beer and two hamburgers. He landed heavily in the grass next to Sora and chuckled. "You know, the only good thing about being feared is that you get lots of stuff for free. Here ya go." He tossed a hamburger to Sora.

Sora caught it and looked at the beers like they were a pair of rattlesnakes. Riku saw the look and discreetly moved the drinks out of sight. Turning around, he opened the packs and threw the drinks to the other gang members.

Riku glanced apologetically at Sora. "Sorry man. I know you don't drink that stuff anymore, but the others wanted some." Sora carefully took a huge bite of burger and said "S'okay."

Riku looked up at the sky and saw the feet hanging over the edge. He made a face. "Jesus, I know we agreed to let them keep us under surveillance while we're here, but do they really have to stay in plain sight while they watching us? It's a bit embarrassing, if you ask me."

Sora glanced up at the serious faces of Seifer, Fuu, and Rai. The three of them saw him looking at them, and Fuu very deliberately pulled a knife out of her boot and began to clean it with a piece of cloth.

Sora quickly put his head down. He recognized that knife. "Man, I still feel kinda bad for her. I mean, Xigbar _did_ kill her brother and stuff." He muttered to Riku. Riku nodded. "Yeah. I still don't know how they got the judge to deem it 'self defense'."

Sora remembered when there had been four members of Seifer's gang. Fuu's brother, Jaan, had been two years older than she was when he joined up with Seifer. She had followed her big brother's footsteps and joined shortly before he died.

Sora had been twelve on the day Jaan died, but he remembered every detail clearly. The Organization had called a Game, feeling that the other gang had encroached on their territory. A Game was a one-on-one fight between two gang members. The rules were laid out, like if weapons were allowed or not, or if it was to be hand-to-hand. Guns were never allowed in the Game. It was usually like boxing – the first one knocked out was the loser, but a player could call it quits if they had to. The other members were there to witness, not to participate. Only once in history had there ever been a death in the Game.

Xigbar had been the one who called the Game, and he challenged Jaan. Jaan had taken it up, feeling that he could win. It was a knife-fight, something Fuu's family seemed to be good at. Jaan had entered the designated area, taking up a fighting stance. Xigbar had entered from the Organization side, facing off against him. Jaan made the first move, flying at Xigbar with a ferocity that Sora had not seen before or since.

Sora remembered watching with the younger Organization members up in one of the nearby trees. He had been with Roxas and Riku, completely horrified but unable to look away from the fight. Jaan was an excellent fighter, but so was Xigbar. Jaan had managed to land a few hits across Xigbar's face, leaving him with those scars. The fight lasted for almost two hours. At the end, Jaan lost his footing over a rock and left himself unprotected.

Xigbar had seen this opening and took full advantage of it. The rules had been laid out, but the Organization members had never been ones to follow anyone's rules but their own. He threw his knife at Jaan's back, and it was all over. Rai had had to pick up Fuu and hold her back before she could run into the ring. It would have been seen as another challenge, and she would have had to fight Xigbar, who had been sixteen at the time, while she had only been twelve.

It wasn't the way it was supposed to work out; Sora had known that something was wrong. Jaan didn't get back up like he had before, and the small silver-haired girl was shrieking and crying. He had looked over at his two friends and asked if Jaan was okay, was he gonna get up, but Riku wouldn't even look at the field he was so sickened by the spectacle. Roxas had just stared, his expression a cross between horror, anger, and grief.

Axel had called a time out in the Game and stepped past Xigbar onto the field. He circled around Jaan's prone form, barely concealing the sly smile that played across his face. He stopped circling Jaan and moved closer. He had poked at his ribs with his shoe, and turned him over with his foot. Jaan's eyes had stared lifelessly back at him.

Axel had mockingly encouraged him to get up; it was just a scratch, he could still win the fight. Axel had started laughing to himself and was joined by his loyal pack. Sora had watched, nauseated and mortified, as Axel looked up to make sure Fuu was watching, and kicked the dead fourteen year old as hard as he could in the ribs.

Fuu had cried out, screaming curses and profanities at him, furiously trying to kick and claw her way out of Rai's hold. Axel grinned maliciously at her and had said in a careless tone, "Well, I guess he's dead." The only thing keeping Fuu from viciously attacking him was the superhuman effort from Rai and Seifer to keep their youngest teammate from getting herself killed.

Sora had gone home with Riku and Roxas shortly after. But not before the ambulances that they called showed up, giving Fuu the grim news that Jaan wasn't coming back. After that day, Sora didn't think that she'd ever spoken more than one or two words at a time, not even to her friends.

"Hey, Riku? Why do you think she still has that knife?" Sora asked curiously.

Riku shrugged. "I don't know. Probably to kill Xigbar with it." Riku stared thoughtfully at the sky. "You know, I don't think I'd really mind if she succeeded. I never liked him at all."

Sora half smiled. "I've gotta agree with you there. He's always been completely psycho. I still crack up when I think about Seifer causing Xigbar's "accident" with his eye."

Riku started laughing. "Yeah, that was pretty cool, I have to admit." Sora grinned and continued watching the beautiful fireworks display.

_I wonder what Kairi's doing right now_, he thought.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Wow, uh, that was a lot darker than I had anticipated. Sorry it took me so long to update! **

**Don't blame me, blame the homework. Review, Please!**


	8. Chapter 8

The fireworks finale was spectacular. Every color of the rainbow and then some were all up in the sky at once, creating an arabesque of color and light. My friends and I cheered and clapped, our faces lit up by the display. As the finale reached its conclusion, we were on our feet, shouting and applauding. The very last firework was a feat of engineering – it spelled out "Happy Anniversary, Twilight Town!" In glowing yellow and orange letters.

The accompanying boom was deafening, of course, but we didn't care. After the afterimage faded away, we all grinned at each other and began chattering excitedly about the past events of the day, leaving out minor details like car crashes and mental breakdowns. While the others discussed what we should see before we left for home, I walked over to Seifer's gang.

"Hey, guys. How did you like the fireworks?" I asked cheerily. Rai hopped off of his perch on the fence and grinned like a little kid. "They were totally awesome, ya know? Like paintball in the sky!"

Seifer turned around and stood up. "They were all right," he said dryly. "for a bunch of explosions." I laughed and looked over at Fuu.

"What did you think of them, Fuu?" I asked politely. I wanted to see if I could get her to speak. Without turning around or getting up from the fence, she said "Loud." That was it. Loud. I blinked a few times and recovered. "O-oh, okay, yeah, I guess they were pretty loud." I managed. She stayed silent.

I looked over at Seifer. He shrugged. "That's just the way she is." He said simply.

Okay then. "So, do you guys want to come with us to see the rest of the festival? There's some pretty cool stuff here." I offered. Seifer considered it for a second and shook his head. "Nah. We've got some stuff that needs our attention. You know, Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee stuff."

I nodded and smiled. "You know, that's a pretty long name. How about just going by the TTDC? It would be a whole lot easier to say." Rai cocked his head and concentrated hard. His face brightened at the idea. "Yeah, boss. How about it? It's a pretty cool name, ya know?"

Seifer looked slightly irritated for a moment, and then seemed to relent. "Yeah, I guess that'd be easier." He said slowly. He grinned suddenly. "I like it. The TTDC. Short, classy, memorable. Okay, let's do it."

I laughed happily. Oh, if only my mother could see me now – giving out free names to local gangs. I laughed some more and leaned over the edge of the wooden fence.

Fuu seemed to register that I was there next to her. She stared at me for a moment, and then she turned away. I wondered if I had offended her or something.

Still smiling slightly at Rai and Seifer discussing graffiti techniques to spread the word about the new name, I stared out into space over the railing. Below me, I heard voices. I glanced down and saw a group of people, though I couldn't tell exactly who they were in the darkness that had fallen.

I looked back up at the stars that were appearing, wondering if they could see Earth like I could see them. Suddenly, I heard a voice calling me. I looked down again. "Kairi! Hey, Kairi, is that you?" I squinted down at them. I knew that voice. "Sora?'' I called tentatively.

"Yeah!" He cupped his hands around his mouth and was about to shout something else, but the figure with silver hair next to him – it had to be Riku – grabbed his arm in warning. I stared down at them, confused, and wondered what the problem was.

Then I realized, a second too late, who the other people must be. I heard that unmistakably mocking voice call out "Is that the princess?"

My eyes widened. Oh, crap.

I glanced over my shoulder at Namine and the others. They were all still chatting amiably, they hadn't heard anything yet. I looked back down at the forms of the Organization members, who were now acutely aware of my presence. The catcalls and jeers had started up, and I was thoroughly pissed off. I would not let Namine get hurt once again by these stupid thugs.

I turned to Seifer and his gang. All three of them were staring solemnly back at me. "Told you we had some stuff that needed our attention." Seifer said seriously. I was too angry and scared to smile. "Look guys, can you keep them up here?" I pleaded, nodding at the others. "I'm gonna go talk to them."

Seifer frowned at me. "I wouldn't advise that. It's too dangerous." I smiled feebly at him. "Well, that's my decision. Pleases don't let Namine or Roxas know they're here."

Rai and Fuu nodded and headed off to the others. Seifer studied me closely. "You've got guts, I'll give you that. Might not have much in the common sense department, but you've got guts." He pulled a handgun out of his pocket and took up position near the fence. "Don't worry; I'll cover you from here." He promised grimly.

I let one corner of my mouth rise in a smile. "Thank you again." I said gratefully. He nodded. I turned away from him and began my descent down the Hill.

* * *

Sora was internally kicking himself. _Dammit, way to keep your mouth shut. _He thought angrily. He glanced over at Axel and the others. He hoped to God that they weren't stupid enough to pull anything here, not while Seifer was up there.

Axel was still making catcalls up the side of the Hill, followed by the others. Sora looked over at Riku, who was pacing back and forth like a caged animal. Sora knew that Riku was trying to figure out a way to end this peacefully. He knew that there was only one way down the Hill, and Kairi would have to leave sometime.

_Maybe she could just sneak past them and they wouldn't notice, _Sora thought hopefully. He knew Riku would back him up if it came to a fight – even though he was praying that it didn't. Sora looked back up at the spot where Kairi's face had been a few moments before. She was so pretty . . .

He snapped himself out of it. This was no time to be daydreaming. The problem at hand could either turn out to be nothing, or someone could end up getting hurt.

Riku came up to him and slapped the back of his head, not too hard, but hard enough that Sora knew that he was angry. "What were you thinking, Sora?" He snapped irritably. "Axel and the others were _three feet _from you. That wasn't exactly discreet!"

Sora rubbed the back of his head. "Hey, that hurt! And I didn't think of that, okay? I was just happy to see her, that's all. And why do you care?"

Riku looked as though he might hit him again. Shaking with anger, he began pacing back and forth again. Sora watched him do this for a few moments, puzzled by his friend's behavior. Riku stopped pacing and walked over to Sora. Taking a deep breath, he angrily muttered "Look, don't you get that I care what happens to her? You aren't the only one, you know."

"Oh. _Oh._"

Exasperated, Riku threw up his hands and began pacing once again. Sora stared after him, realizing that Riku was keeping his feelings about her to himself out of respect for Sora's feelings for her. He had liked her first, and Riku knew it.

Shaking his head, Sora began walking in a circle. He didn't even notice what he was doing until he heard the jeers and catcalls escalate, and Riku began cursing under his breath. Sora looked over to his right, and he also began to use some rather colorful language.

"_Kairi!_"

* * *

I knew that what I was doing was incredibly stupid, but I felt that it needed to be done. I made my way down to the bottom of the Hill, eventually coming to the spot where I had seen the Organization thugs.

I rounded the corner of the Hill and came face to face with them. Axel, Larxene, Lexaeus, Xigbar, Zexion, a kid with a mullet, and the kid with the silver earrings and a blond goatee were all there, along with Sora and Riku. The others were saying crude, obscene things that I would not care to repeat.

"_Kairi!_" Sora shouted, his face a cross between excitement and anguish. I half smiled at him and waved at Riku. "Hey, guys. What's up?" I said lamely. Riku's eyes looked like they were gonna bug out of his head, and Sora was slack jawed with shock. I guess they didn't expect me to come near them of my own free will.

I glanced at the top of the Hill. Seifer was still there, and he nodded at me encouragingly. I nodded once back at him and returned my attention to the gang in front of me. Sora and Riku came hurrying forward, determined to get themselves between me and the others. "What the _hell_ are you doing?" Riku hissed.

I opened my mouth to answer but I was cut short by Axel. "Well, look at this! Riku and Sora don't want to share the princess!" He crowed. "Aw, princess, you aren't even going to say hello? That's just plain rude." He said tauntingly.

I tried to return the sarcasm. "Well, you know, I'm just not into rapists and thugs. Sorry, Axel, guess that means you're off my list." He still smirked, but his eyes hardened. Larxene, who was draped across one of his arms, glared murderously at me.

Axel disentangled himself from Larxene and took a few steps forward. He spread his arms wide, in a mockery of friendship. "Oh, but Kairi, that just moves you farther up _my_ list."

Beside me, I thought I heard Riku growling like a dog. Sora turned slightly so that I was behind him, shielded from the Organization. Axel grinned. "Sora, Riku, step aside. Let a real man come on through."

They did nothing of the sort. In fact, they both shifted their weight into light fighting stances. It wasn't overly noticeable, but if I just barely caught it, that meant someone more practiced at fighting would have seen it right away. Axel set his jaw and frowned. 'Step. Aside. _Now. _That's an order!_" _

Seeing the others behind him advancing towards us, I quickly shoved Riku and Sora to one side. They didn't expect that, so I actually got them to move a little bit. They looked back at me in bewilderment. "It's okay," I whispered out of the corner of my mouth. I gestured at the Hill. "Seifer." Their eyes widened in understanding. They straightened up, and, still watching Axel closely, stood aside.

Axel laughed; he seemed to think that I had pushed them away so I could see him. "Well, its good to see that you're finally coming around, _princess_." He practically snarled the last word. He began moving towards me, slowly and menacingly. I glanced worriedly up at the top of the Hill, looking for Seifer, but he _wasn't there_.

I felt my stomach clench. Where was he? Why wasn't he there anymore? Was something the matter with my friends? Wrenching my gaze away from the wooden fence, I stared into those cold, vivid green eyes. A predator's eyes.

He smirked at me. "So, what to do with you now?" He was standing directly in front of me, and my eyes weren't even level with his shoulder. I actually felt afraid. He reached out and brushed the back of his hand across my cheek. I pulled away, repulsed by his touch. He chuckled darkly and glanced over his shoulder at his friends. I followed his stare and looked at Larxene. She smiled sweetly and nodded imperceptibly. I was just wondering what this meant when Axel turned back to me.

"You know, I never did get you back for publicly humiliating me." He said matter-of-factly. This got some snickers from the crowd, which appeared to give Axel more energy. He looked back at them once more and laughed. Then, so fast that I didn't see it coming, he gave me a sharp backhanded blow across the face. My head snapped to the side, and the momentum spun me halfway around. He hit me so hard that I saw stars, and my ears rang. I opened my eyes and saw Riku and Sora furiously cry out in protest, but I didn't hear it. Riku was raging at Axel, his expression terrifying. Sora and I made brief eye contact, his face betraying his anger and dismay. And then the second blow came so fast that I didn't even feel it. I blacked out, and I didn't even notice when I hit the ground.

* * *

"KAIRI!" Sora shouted. She seemed dazed, like she was in a dream. Her eyes briefly met his, and she had looked at him, confused, pleading, as if asking _Why? Why is this happening? I don't understand. _Like a child that had been abandoned without warning in the streets. He watched as she crumpled to the ground, lifeless as a rag doll. Her head connected solidly with the hard earth.

All was silent for a moment. Sora slowly raised his eyes to Axel's smiling face. He clenched his fists and practically shook with rage. Next to him, Riku seemed to lose it. "_Axel!_" he thundered. "You sick, low-lying, twisted bastard! What did you just do?"

Axel rolled his eyes. "Uh, duh, I just hit her for each time she hit me. Seems like a fair trade, if you ask me." That did it. Sora launched himself at Axel, not thinking about the consequences. But before he even touched him, shots rang through the air.

Everyone threw themselves to the ground, afraid of getting hit. After a few moments of silence, Sora carefully raised his head out of the dirt and looked around. There were two bullet holes in the ground about a foot from his face. He looked over at Riku, who was getting up cautiously. The others were unhurt as well.

Sora remembered what Kairi had said and looked up at the top of Sunset Hill above them. Seifer Almasy was standing there, handgun at the ready. Sora stood up very slowly, hands raised. The others followed suit. Axel looked like a bomb on the verge of exploding, his teeth bared at Seifer.

Seifer didn't even bother to make a remark to them. He hopped over the railing and slid carefully down the seventy feet of the steep side of the Hill. He skidded to a stop and motioned for everyone to get into a line. They complied, not wanting to end up like Swiss cheese. After making sure that everyone was unarmed, he went to check on Kairi, which relieved Sora to some extent.

After checking her breathing and pulse, he concluded that she would be all right, though she would have nasty bruises. Turning around, he stared coldly at the line of Organization members. "Which one of you did this?" He demanded. They all remained silent.

Seifer examined them closely. He raised the gun and fired a warning shot into the air. Everyone quickly moved away from Axel, indicating his guilt. Seifer walked up to him and stared him down. "You, huh? Should have guessed. I was gone for two seconds and this happens." Even though he was somewhat shorter than Axel, the fact that he was the one with firearms made a considerable impression.

Seifer made a move as if to shoot Axel, but Sora saw the conflicting emotions play out on his face, and he turned away from him in disgust. Sora let out a sigh of relief. As much as he hated Axel right now, he still considered him family.

Axel smirked at Seifer. "Coward." He said mockingly. "All talk, and no act—" The wind left his lungs in a rush as Seifer spun around and kneed him in the stomach. Axel doubled over and began cursing weakly at him. Seifer displayed no emotion whatsoever as he turned away.

Seifer motioned to Sora and Riku to step out of line. After walking a short ways away from the others, he turned to them. "Listen, I'm willing to give you guys a chance here. I've heard good stuff about you two, so don't take this lightly. She trusts you, so I'm going to trust you. Got it?" They both nodded, not willing to speak. Seifer pressed his lips together and took a deep breath. "Do you know where she lives?" Sora nodded. "Okay. I want you to take her home, and stay there until she wakes up. No funny business. Understand?"

Sora nodded. Riku grunted his agreement. "Fine. I'll tell her friends she went home early. You make up an excuse for her parents. Now, get out of here before I change my mind. Go!" Sora turned without another word and went to Kairi. He picked her up and put her over his shoulder. She barely weighed anything.

He nodded briefly at Riku and they set off for the parking lot. As they were turning the corner, Sora heard Seifer say "I've had enough of this. We all have. You've overstepped your boundaries one too many times." Sora stopped and motioned to Riku with one hand, holding on to Kairi with the other. They waited as they heard someone else slide down the practically vertical drop to the bottom of the Hill.

They heard Seifer greet the person and say "So, Fuu, you wanted to say something to them? Something about a _challenge_?" Sora and Riku peered around the corner at the others. Fuu was standing not too far from Seifer, her face as hard stone. She turned to the Organization and said in a voice cut from steel "Challenge. Game."

Axel and the others laughed at her. "Oh, yeah? Who do you challenge, shrimp?" Larxene spat. Unruffled by the animosity directed at her, Fuu calmly raised one hand and pointed at Xigbar. In a terrible voice full of pain and hatred, she growled "_Him_."

Riku and Sora stared at each other with wide eyes. "Oh, _damn._" Riku muttered.

Sora shifted Kairi from one shoulder to the other. "Come on, man. We'd better get her home."

* * *

In the parking lot lit up by the strings of lights and car headlights, the two teenage boys carrying an unconscious teenage girl had attracted a lot of attention from party-goers who were leaving. Some people recognized them as Organization members, and they were the only ones who kept quiet.

Riku pulled out the keys to his beat up '64 Ford F-100 truck and unlocked the doors. As Sora was easing Kairi into the seat, a little old lady poked him in the back with her walking stick. Hard.

"Young, man, where do you think you're taking this poor girl?" she demanded crossly. When Sora didn't answer her fast enough, she poked him again, harder this time. Sora yelped and rubbed the sore spot on his back. "Look, lady, we're just trying to get her home. Okay?"

The elderly woman narrowed her eyes behind her glasses. "I don't like your tone, young man. You should have more respect for someone of my age!" With that, she whacked the top of his head with her cane.

Holding his head, Sora tried to reason with her. "I am so very dearly sorry I offended you. It was not my intention. My friend is, um, sick, and we're just going to _ohdearGodpleasedon'thitmewiththatstickagain!" _he cried out as sheraised her cane. The little old lady then continued to beat him repeatedly with her cane.

"Don't you play innocent with me! I know your type! Think you can get away with anything you want, do ya? Well, someone ought to teach you a lesson, boy!" Sora tried in vain to ward off the blows from the walking stick, which only succeeded in making her angrier.

Finally, the elderly lady seemed to have had enough. She nodded her head once, with a curt "Humph." at Sora. She turned and walked away, muttering crossly about the youth today and their impudence. Sora managed to straighten up and stared after her, his face totally blank. He looked over at Riku, who had watched the whole interaction with mild amusement.

"What?" Sora snapped irritably. Riku raised his hands defensively. "I didn't say anything." He said innocently, trying not to smile. Sora sighed in exasperation and slid into the seat next to Kairi, slamming the door behind him.

"Just that you got owned by a little old granny," Riku said under his breath before he got into the driver's seat.

* * *

The ride to Kairi's house was short and silent. Sora gave Riku directions to find the house, checking on Kairi at frequent intervals. Her breathing was normal, but there were plum colored bruises forming on her eye and across her cheekbone.

The clock read 10:04 pm in the dashboard when they pulled up in front of her house. Riku came around to the other side of the truck and held open the door as Sora gently pulled Kairi out of the seat. Riku closed the side door after Sora successfully put Kairi over his shoulder again.

Riku started up the front walk to the door. "Hey, Riku! Wait a second. There's a tree around the side of the house. You can get into her room from there. Just lift up the latch and let us in – we can't go kicking down people's front doors. Riku lifted an eyebrow but said nothing.

He disappeared around the side of the house. Sora sat down on the front steps, propping Kairi up against his side. He stared up at the glittering stars, wondering what would happen next. _A Game. _He thought sullenly. _There hasn't been a Game for four years. _To him, everything about the Game was wrong – it wasn't a game, it was playing with someone's life.

Kairi stirred against his shoulder and blinked a few times. He glanced down in surprise, happy to see that she was up.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, everything was blurred slightly. When everything came into focus, I sat up abruptly, causing my head to throb painfully. I slouched over, groaning and holding my head.

"Hey, I'm glad you're okay." A voice said next to me. I slowly turned my head, not wanting to throw up on anyone. Sora grinned that goofy grin at me, lighting up our immediate area. I tried to smile back at him, but I found that it brought excruciating pain to my left cheek.

I winced, and tenderly examined my face with my fingers. Sora watched closely, concerned that I might need more help or something. I found that my right eye was swollen and sore, probably from Axel's backhanded swing at me. My left cheek's soreness was probably from the second blow. Sora warned me to watch the back of my head; I had apparently landed on it pretty hard.

After making sure that I wasn't bleeding or brain-damaged, I threw him a sideways glance and said "Um, thanks for saving my ass, again. I think you're getting the hang of it." He grinned crookedly. "Lots of practice." He teased.

I smiled – big mistake – and sighed. "So, how'd you do it this time? How did you get me away from them?" His grin faded slightly. He rested his forearms on his knees and said "Actually, Seifer should get the credit for this one. He had a gun, and he got everyone to cooperate."

I frowned. "Wait, what?"

Sora told me the whole thing, starting from when I hit the ground and ending with the car ride home. I didn't doubt a word of what h said until he got to the little old lady. I thought he was just trying to make me laugh. He shook his head a little sheepishly. "Uh, no. Ask Riku, he could tell you. I'm not proud of it, but I got my butt kicked by an old lady."

I laughed at the image that brought forward in my mind. Suddenly, I heard something like a person falling down the stairs of my house. Sora and I looked at each other questioningly, and glanced up as the front door opened. Riku appeared, looking irritated and tired. "Sora, I think I forgot to mention that not all of us are as good at climbing trees as you are. So next time, you climb the tree and fall down dark stairs and _I'll_ stay in the front."

I giggled and said 'I'm sorry." He got a good look at my face for the first time and swore quietly. "Don't be. We should be apologizing to you."

I stopped laughing abruptly. I scowled at both of them. "Don't go blaming yourselves for this. It wasn't your fault. It doesn't even hurt that much, see?" I poked myself in the cheek and almost screamed, but I managed to turn it into laughter. They didn't look like they believed me. If I were them, I wouldn't believe me either. I must have looked like absolute crap.

Riku sighed. "Anyways, I have to go. I've got some things to do before I go home." He hopped off the steps and began walking towards his car. Over his shoulder he called, "I'll talk to you guys later." He got into his truck and drove down the street, a bit faster than the speed limit probably allowed.

I looked over at Sora after he was gone. "Hey, how are you going to get home? Are you just going to walk?"

He scratched behind his ear and closed one eye. "Um, I was kinda hoping you could help me with that. There are two options: one, I could stay here overnight, or two, you could lend me a bike or a skateboard or something." I stared at him incredulously.

"Um, here's the answer to those two options: to option one, my mother would kill us both, and two, I don't have a skateboard, so you can borrow my bike."

He laughed good-naturedly. "Okay, it was just a suggestion. Anyway, your bike isn't pink, is it?" I glared at him. "No, it's not pink, it's blue and black."

He smiled at me, and my heart positively melted. He seemed like such a good guy, so nice and innocent, considering everything that happened to him. I sighed huffily and got up carefully to get my bike out of the garage. When I came back, Sora was totally zoned out. I snapped my fingers in his face and laughed at his surprise. "Sora, should you really be riding home by yourself? Will you be okay?"

He smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. If I just keep smiling, everything's okay. Will you be okay?" I grinned and nodded. He took the bike out of my hands and adjusted the height so he could use it, what with me being shorter than he was.

As he sat down, I --being fully rational this time, I _promise_—leaned over and kissed his cheek. I blushed furiously still, but it was a good kind of blush. "Um, thanks again, Sora." I said quietly. He sat completely motionless for a few seconds. He seemed to shake himself awake. "No problem. Anytime." He looked shyly at me and half-smiled. Then he gave the bike a shove and pedaled away.

I stared after him for a while, even after he was gone. You know, I thought to myself, I think I love him.

Surprisingly, there were no nightmares when I slept.

* * *

Sora was dreaming.

_He was in the hangout, walking aimlessly. A clock sounded somewhere far away. Suddenly, he was running away – something terrible was going to happen. He had to be there on time. The walls began to shrink, and all the doors disappeared. The hangout turned into one long hallway. _

_He ran faster and faster, knowing he wouldn't make it there. Suddenly, the end of the hallway became visible. There was a giant window, far bigger than the rest of the hall. Through it, he could see Kairi walking past the hangout. _

_Axel appeared. Sora tried to call out to them, but neither heard him. He pounded at the glass with his fists, trying to break through. Others appeared, figures wearing black, and they surrounded her. _

_She tried to get away, tried to fight back, but it was futile. There were too many. The small redhead disappeared among the black clothed ones, snuffed out like a candle in the dark. _

_Sora cried out in fear and despair; he couldn't lose her. Not her. _

_Suddenly, he knew who could help. The walls were getting smaller and smaller, but suddenly, Roxas was standing next to him at the window, looking out at the scene below. Sora tried to beg him for help, but found that he couldn't speak. He tried to grab Roxas, but he found that he couldn't move his limbs. _

_Sadly, Roxas turned to him. "I told you so." He said in a strange voice, gesturing at the scene below. Sora could no longer see her among the black figures. _

"_I told you so." Roxas said again. But he was in front of Sora, not next to him. No, he wasn't in front of him – Roxas was his reflection in the glass. "I told you. Why didn't you listen?" _

_The walls kept closing in. _

Sora shot up in bed, covered in sweat. He looked wildly around him, remembering where he was. He took a deep breath and lay back down, trying to forget about everything. He couldn't help thinking that he was a danger to her, that it wasn't a good idea to be around her. He remembered Roxas's words: _Why didn't you listen?_

* * *

**A/N:**

**Hey everyone, hoped you liked it! **

**Let me hear your opinions about the story! Reviews are what keep me posting. **

**Thanks guys!**


	9. Chapter 9

Of course when my mom got home late that night, she had a heart attack when she saw my face. I hurriedly reassured her that I was fine; I had fallen down the side of the Hill and landed on my head. That didn't seem to surprise her for some reason.

"Sweetie, I'm calling a doctor and getting you a cat scan, or an MRI," she said hysterically. "You could have suffered brain damage1"

I somehow managed to convince her that I was fine, and that I had very _gently _fallen on my face. I don't know how she bought it, or why I wasn't shipped off to the hospital, but I got her to calm down and go to bed. After making sure that she was asleep, I quickly sent an email apology to all of my friends for leaving so unexpectedly, but something had come up, blah blah blah.

I switched off my computer and went to bed.

The next morning, I yawned hugely and almost split my face in half it hurt so badly. I got up and went to the bathroom to check the damage. I had one very purple eye, and I had what looked like a light green and purple shadow across my cheek. At least it wasn't swollen anymore.

I groaned; there was no way my friends would ignore something like this. I would have to come up with some kind of excuse. I gently washed my face in the sink and applied a little makeup to cover the worst of the damage. After making sure that I at least looked like I wasn't going to drop dead, I went downstairs to the kitchen.

My mother was already there, reading the morning paper. "Kairi, honey, have you heard about this?" I walked over to her side, looking over her shoulder at the paper.

_Late last night after the Twilight Town Anniversary fireworks display, several shots were reported at around 9:50. Some hold to the belief that they were only fireworks set off by local teens. No witnesses have come forward as of yet. No one could pinpoint the exact location . . . ._

I quickly snatched up the paper and put it on the counter. "Mom, it's too early to be looking at this stuff." I flashed a smile at her, causing my face to feel overly stretched. She studied me closely and said "Kairi, is there something wrong? Is there anything you want to tell me?"

I opened my mouth to tell her that everything was fine, but there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it," I said quickly, glad for the escape. I walked briskly down the hallway and opened the door. To my vast surprise, Sora and Riku stood there.

"Hey Kai--" before Sora could even finish the sentence, I slammed the door in their faces. I gasped, realizing that I had, well, just slammed the door on them. I glanced behind me, making sure my mother wasn't there to see who it was, and I gently opened the door again and slipped outside.

Riku looked at me quizzically. "What the heck was that?" he asked curiously. I grimaced apologetically at them. "Sorry about that, but my mom is in there eating breakfast. I wasn't exactly expecting you guys. She, um, doesn't know about you yet." They nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, it's not exactly a mother's dream to have their kid hang out with a gang." Riku said sarcastically. Sora laughed ruefully in agreement. I let myself smile a little. "So, what brings you guys here?" I asked.

They glanced at each other and shifted uncomfortably. "We just came to see how you were doing and stuff." Sora said quickly. Riku elbowed him impatiently. Sora glowered at him and said "Yeah, and we kinda need you to come with us this afternoon."

I raised an eyebrow. "What for?"

Riku nudged Sora again, but Sora refused to say anything more. Rubbing the side of his head, Riku said "We need you top go to the Game with us."

I looked at them blankly. "What game? Like a baseball game or something?" For some reason they both started to laugh. I felt slightly irritated with them. "Come on, seriously. What game?"

They sobered almost immediately. "I don't think we should tell you right now. But can we show up here at around 2:00?" Sora said plaintively. I began to have a sneaking suspicion that this was nothing good. "Do I have a choice?" I asked quietly.

Riku shook his head. "Afraid not. We don't either, if that makes you feel any better." And for some reason, it didn't.

After they had left, promising to be back later, I went back into the kitchen and sat down. My mom looked up from her cereal at me. "Where did you go, sunshine? You were gone for almost eight minutes." I allowed myself to smile reassuringly at her. "I just went out for some fresh air, Mom. Nothing special."

She grinned radiantly at me. "Oh, good for you sweetie. You sure look like you could use some fresh air." My smile became a little strained. Thanks for another pep talk, mom!

* * *

I went upstairs to the bathroom and took a quick shower. I had no idea what we were doing, so I figured that I should be ready for anything. I reapplied the makeup to the bruises, even though the one across my cheek was almost completely gone, and I sat down at my computer. I had five new messages.

_orangegirl220: Hey Kairi, are you okay? Call me back ASAP._

_Lightbluesky: Hey, it's Namine. I'm just making sure you're all right. _

_DogStreet_: _Hi, Pence here. You okay? Tell us._

_BasketballIsLife: Seifer told us you left early. So, just checking on you. Talk to ya later, okay?_

_skaterkid16: Hey, it's Roxas. Why did you leave early? And why was Seifer the one to tell us? Tell us if something is wrong. _

I put my head in my hands and groaned. I hated lying to my friends. I didn't want to do this, but I wasn't about to get them involved in any of this.

_redmadness5: Hey everyone, I'm okay. I wasn't feeling so good yesterday; I think it was something I ate. Anyway, I also got hit in the head by some little kid with a piñata bat. So, I've just got a couple of bruises and a stomachache, that's all. I'm going to stay in bed, so I'll talk to all of you tomorrow. Bye!_

I shut down the computer, not wanting to see if anyone responded.

* * *

2:00 came around, and I had given my mom the excuse that I was going to the mall with my friends. Hah, like I'd ever do that again.

I was sitting on the front steps of my house, waiting for them to show up. I shielded my eyes against the sun, reflecting on what a beautiful day it was. Suddenly, I heard the screeching of tires as a car zoomed onto my street. I stood up, seeing the blue truck hurtling toward my house.

It pulled up to the side of the street, and I walked up to the passenger door. Riku and Sora were sitting there, looking grim. I immediately felt something was wrong with them. "Guys, what's going on?" I asked carefully. Sora scooted over silently, making room for me in the truck. I got in hesitantly, the mood in the truck cabin making me feel small and insecure.

Sora shook his head angrily. "This is so messed up," he said to Riku. "Why does she have to come? She doesn't need this." Riku glanced at me and back at Sora. "Hey, it was either we picked her up, or Axel did. I don't think there was much of a choice there, do you?" Sora stared moodily in front of him. I wondered what the heck was going on.

"Guys, where are we going?" I asked seriously. "And Axel knows where I _live_?" Sora shook his head quickly. "He knows what street you live on, but not the exact house. We made sure of that."

I became slightly annoyed with them. "Guys, where are we _going_? I want to know." Riku looked up from the road and fixed his eyes on me. "No, you don't." That scared me a little. Why wouldn't they tell me?

Sora must have seen how freaked out I was. "Kairi, we're going to see a Game." I felt my temper start up. "Yeah, I know that. What I don't know is what the hell that means." He looked pained for a moment. He sighed and said "Kairi, a Game is sort of like a one-on-one duel between two opposing gang members. The rules are laid out, and the players are chosen. Well actually, the challenger picks who they want to face. People are generally challenged over territory or personal offense. Then they decide what type of fight they want; knife-fight, fistfight, or otherwise. No guns allowed."

I could only stare. My mind had a hard time registering what was said. Then all of a sudden, the gravity of that statement hit me. "W-wait, I'm going with you to see someone get killed in a fight?!" I shrieked. "Why? Why am I going with you? I'm not involved in any of this. I-I didn't do anything!" I stammered.

Sora wrapped me I a hug, which normally would have made me blush like crazy, but I was too distressed for it to do anything but comfort me. "Kairi, it's okay, no one is going to get killed," He said quietly. 'It's like boxing. The first one unconscious is the loser. The only reason you're coming with us is that all the people present when the challenge is issued must attend. I wish it was different, but Axel was going to get you to go himself if we didn't. So, here we are."

I composed myself quickly. After a moment, I pulled away from Sora and sat still, staring out through the windshield at the road. All was silent in the truck until I ventured my next question. "Who's fighting?"

"Fuu challenged Xigbar, the guy with the scars and eye patch." Sora said dismally.

"Why did she challenge him? And what kind of fight is it?"

Sora seemed to space out for a second. It looked like he was remembering something that made him sad. "It's a knife-fight. They're both excellent knife-fighters." I waited for the rest, but he remained thoughtfully silent.

"Sora? Why did she challenge him?" He snapped to attention when I said his name. "Uh, we encroached on their territory or something." He said absently.

Somehow I figured that wasn't the whole story. "Hey, what aren't you telling me? That was the lamest excuse ever." Angrily, I looked between him and Riku. "Guys, if I'm going to this thing, I have a right to know why."

Sora closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay, fine. You can hear the story. So four years ago, when the last Game was called, Fuu's brother Jaan was challenged by Xigbar." I blinked. "Fuu has a brother? I didn't know that." Sora ran a hand through his spiky hair. "Yeah, I didn't think you would, considering he's dead."

Oh. "I'm sorry. How did that happen?" Sora looked very tired as he said "Well that's what I'm trying to explain, if you'd let me."

"Sorry. Go on."

He took another deep breath and said "Jaan was only fourteen when the challenge was issued, but he was still an even match for Xigbar. And that's saying something, since Xigbar was sixteen. Anyway, we were all there, including Fuu, who was twelve at the time, like me. Seifer was fourteen, and Rai was thirteen, like Riku. Sorry, I keep getting off track. Anyway, they were really evenly matched, and Jaan gave Xigbar those scars. But, at the end, Jaan lost his footing, and Xigbar threw his knife at him and killed him. It was the only death in the history of the Game."

"Fuu completely lost it. She tried to get onto the field, but her teammates held her back so she couldn't be viewed as a challenger. Then Axel did some really cruel things. He kicked Jaan and mocked him and stuff. It was bad. Fuu would've just about killed him if Rai and Seifer had given her the chance. After the others left, she was allowed onto the field with her friends. She cried for a long time, up until the ambulances we called came to help. But there wasn't anything they could do for him; he was gone. She still has the knife that killed him, probably so she can kill Xigbar with it."

"And she hasn't spoken more than one word at a time since. So, the match we're going to is a grudge match."

I stared fixedly out the window, hoping to God that I wasn't going to throw up. Sora and Riku were both silent. I pulled my legs up onto the seat and rested my chin on my knees, thinking of how she must have felt seeing all of that stuff happen. A few minutes passed and I decided that I had to put up a brave face. I couldn't walk into one of these things being all vulnerable and stuff. I had to be stronger than that.

A thought struck me as I was staring out the window. "Won't her parents be kinda upset if she comes home all cut up and stuff?" I inquired. Sora snorted. "What parents?" he said sarcastically.

Riku ventured an apology. "I'm so sorry that you have to come, Kairi. We didn't want you to either. If we had any choice, we wouldn't go." Somehow I managed to mumble a reply. "That's okay. It's not your fault."

Sora put one arm around my shoulders and said "It's gonna be okay. We've given permission for them to interfere if they need to, but only once. So no one is gonna die today. Okay?" I nodded against his shoulder/.

The reassurance would have worked perfectly if I hadn't heard Riku mutter under his breath "I sure hope so."

* * *

Not too far away from the blue truck, a petite girl with short silver hair was kneeling in front of a table with picture frame on it, her hands folded and eyes closed. The picture was of a serious looking young man with silver hair and features that resembled the girl's. He was holding a small child – Fuu, as a little kid.

Fuu silently opened her eyes and unclasped her hands. She stood up and placed a small candle in front of the picture. After lighting it reverently, she quietly walked to the door and opened it. Before she closed it and locked it behind her, she looked one last time at the picture of her brother.

_Soon, _she thought, _Soon._

* * *

We arrived at the fighting arena shortly after that. It was a small field that was a mix of gravel, rocks, and grass enclosed by trees and an old Laundromat owned by Seifer's family. It was invisible from the street, making it the perfect spot for a fight. I stared at it, hoping the brownish-red stain on some of the rocks wasn't what I thought it was.

I looked over to my right, at Seifer's gang. They acknowledged me silently, turning back to their discussion. Over to my left, I saw the Organization in all its glory – they were cursing and jeering and prematurely boasting about their win.

Conflicted about which side I should stand on, I looked to Riku and Sora for help. "You should sit in that tree with us." Sora said simply. "It's kind of a neutral thing to sit in the tree." Riku added.

So I leaped into the tree, glad to get away from the other Organization members. After finding a suitable branch to sit on, I was joined by Sora and Riku. We all watched as the Organization and the TTDC finished up their meetings and took their places on opposite sides of the field. Xigbar and Fuu stepped forward, each trying to stare the other down.

Axel and Seifer also stepped forward, presenting their fighters to the other gang. I looked at Fuu. She was so small; it just didn't seem fair for her to be facing off against a twenty year old who was six feet tall. Although, he did have the disadvantage of having only one eye, courtesy of Seifer.

The leaders stepped back off of the field, returning to their respective sides. The Organization was shouting abuse at the other side, while the TTDC shouted encouragement to Fuu. Her face was calm, almost serene, as she took up her fighting stance. Xigbar snickered at her as he dropped into his fighting stance. "Like brother, like sister," he sneered. Something flashed across her face, so briefly that I couldn't tell what it was.

Seifer called out the rules in a loud voice. "This is a knife-fight; last one standing is the winner. Only one interference from our side, more than once is punished accordingly." He fixed a glare on Xigbar. "Don't give me a reason to act outside the rules."

Seifer looked around at everyone, his gaze resting on Fuu. "Good luck." He said quietly. He stood up straight and, taking a deep breath, shouted "Begin!"

Fuu snapped out two short knives from her boots, and Xigbar pulled one long, wicked-looking knife out of his belt. Fuu rushed at him, her footsteps light and graceful. She took a swipe at him and missed. She ducked just in time for his knife to whistle past her ear, I'm pretty sure it cut off some of her hair. She used her momentum to spin around and slice at Xigbar's outstretched arm.

It cut through his shirt and scratched his arm. He growled at her and snapped out a leg, intending to sweep her feet out from under her. She jumped over his leg and landed in a crouch. She somersaulted away just before his shoe landed on her head. She snapped up and roundhouse kicked him in the chest. He wheezed for air and attempted to punch her in the face.

He narrowly missed. Angered, he quickly bent down and scooped up some loose gravel. He threw the small rocks at her, forcing her to bring her arms up to cover he r face. He took the opportunity to smash his foot into her stomach. She doubled over, gasping for breath.

He stood over her, grinning. "Come on, girlie. Don't have all day." He said meanly. "Jesus, even your brother was better than this." He laughed. Fuu staggered to her feet, her eyes flashing dangerously.

With a wild cry, she leaped off her feet, effectively tackling him. She rolled to the side, avoiding Xigbar's clumsy efforts to slash at her. She sprang to her feet, taking up a defensive stance. Xigbar pushed up off the ground and glared at her. They circled each other like wild animals for a few seconds, and then Fuu threw one of her knives at Xigbar, catching him in the shoulder.

He cried out in pain. He looked down at the black handle protruding from his shoulder. Carefully, he pulled it out, wincing the entire time. Then, to my complete amazement, he started laughing at Fuu. He held up the knife for her to see. "You still have this? I remember the last time I saw this. It was stuck in that loser punk's back, wasn't it?" He grinned at her enraged expression. "Oh, I bet you remember it too, don't you?"

He looked curiously at her. "What were you trying to do, getting me in the shoulder like that?" She spread her feet apart, preparing to fight again. She managed to grate out "Missed neck." Her one visible eye glittered dangerously. Xigbar threw the knife away and took up his fighting stance. "You're really serious." He said thoughtfully. "Huh. I had no idea that you were _that_ upset about things." He grinned suddenly. "I wouldn't have held back if I knew that earlier."

I felt my eyes widen. I looked over at Riku and Sora. Their faces were like stone. I looked back down at the field. _He was holding back?_

Xigbar chuckled and crouched low. Suddenly, he rushed at Fuu, barely giving her enough time to react. She deflected his knife with her own before it could slash across her side. Xigbar swung around and firmly connected his foot to her lower back. She stumbled forward and turned just as his other foot caught her in the face.

She spun around, dazed for a moment. She came back to her senses, stopping Xigbar's knife before he could get at her right arm. She pushed away from him, wiping away the dirt on her face. She swiped at his head, missing by mere inches. She quickly changed direction, relentlessly pursuing him across the field. She took several rapid-fire slashes at him, and the last one struck his leg.

They both suffered many cuts and bruises. I wondered how long this could go on.

Xigbar cursed loudly and raised his weapon, taking aim at Fuu's face. She saw it coming and ducked down, slashing again at him. She ripped a hole in his jeans, but I don't think it connected with his skin. Xigbar struck out at her with his fist and knocked her to the ground. Fuu leaped back up and added to Xigbar's collection of scars. I mean, I didn't think those two were even _human_. No one should be able to sustain those kinds of cuts.

Xigbar somehow managed to pick Fuu up by her hair. She screamed at him and stabbed at his arm. He dropped her immediately, trying to kick her as she went down. She blocked his kick with one arm and hit him in the face with the handle of her knife. He managed to shove her away and stood there, panting.

Xigbar was surprised, that much I could tell. He didn't expect her to be this good. I silently cheered Fuu on. I wanted to see her come out of this relatively unharmed – I don't know what would happen to the TTDC if she didn't.

Fuu squared her shoulders, breathing heavily. She let out one furious cry and surged forward, her knife outstretched. The next part happened in slow motion: I saw her swipe at Xigbar, and miss. Xigbar smirked evilly at her, and as she was flying past him, he slashed one long line diagonally from her left shoulder to the lower right corner of her back.

She went down hard; even Fuu could hardly stand that kind of pain. I heard an anguished cry from her teammates. The Organization was cheering loudly, congratulating Xigbar and mocking Fuu. I felt fear creeping into my chest. How deep was it? Was she going to be all right?

Xigbar stood up straight and wiped the sweat and grime away from his eyes. He stared down at Fuu, who was coughing and struggling to get up. He sneered at her. "As I said, like brother, like sister." He began to laugh and walk away, but the unexpected occurred. Fuu deftly swept his legs out from under him and managed to sit up. Xigbar landed on his butt in the gravel with a thud. He leapt up and bared his teeth at Fuu, who was still sitting on the ground and panting. She glared back at him, her hatred practically tangible.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" Xigbar growled. He advanced towards her, fully intending to do major damage.

I was about to jump out of the tree to intervene, but thankfully Seifer did something. He hastily stepped onto the field and said "I'm calling a time-out. I'm using our one interference. So stop it, okay, scumbag?" He growled at Xigbar, who had Fuu by the collar of her shirt. Xigbar smiled at the TTDC and let her drop to the ground, deliberately stepping on her fingers as he walked away.

Seifer and Rai rushed onto the field, bringing a water bottle and a first aid kit. I could barely hear what they were saying, but I did hear Rai begging Fuu to quit before she got herself killed. Seifer seemed to agree with that. From what I could tell, Fuu wasn't about to give up, not for anything.

I looked at Sora and Riku. "Guys, what happens now?" I asked quietly.

Sora continued to stare at the tops of their heads below us. Riku responded. "I don't know how this is going to turn out. If she agrees to continue fighting, I don't want you to watch, okay? This is worse than what we thought." I glanced at him angrily. "If I'm going to be here, watching this happen, then I'm gonna see it through, okay? I want to see her come out of this. I'm not some wimp who'll faint at the sight of a little blood, got it?"

Riku looked at me sadly. "Kairi, if this turns out like I think it will, then it'll be more than a little blood."

I didn't know what to say to that. I watched the TTDC patch up their teammate to the best of their abilities, and saw the distressed expressions on their faces. Only Fuu resembled anything remotely calm, her eyes glued to Xigbar. Seifer was talking to her in an undertone, trying to get her to forfeit. Rai was nodding and interjecting at random intervals.

Finally, they all stood up. Seifer and Rai wore defeated expressions, and Fuu, freshly bandaged, stepped forward and said "Continue."

I felt something like anger and despair rise. Did she understand what she was doing? She could be throwing her life away. I clung tightly to the tree branch and looked at my friends. Riku dropped his head into his hands, and Sora had closed his eyes and was shaking his head as if in denial. Their reactions were almost as frightening to me as the fact that she had decided to continue fighting.

The Organization found this hilarious. "Let her have it, Xiggy!" Larxene called out. "Teach her some respect!" Lexaeus boomed.

Xigbar stepped forward. "Hah. You might even be more of a moron than that brother of yours was." he snickered. "Bring it on!"

The other two left the field reluctantly, still trying to urge Fuu to quit. She looked back at them and gave them her version of a smile, which didn't exactly reassure them. Seifer looked at the field, at the fighters, and at the Organization. He took a deep breath, and in a shaky voice he called out "Okay. Our one interference has been used. The fighting will now resume." He hesitated for a moment. "Begin!"

Fuu wasted no time in attacking. She lunged at Xigbar with a renewed ferocity, causing him to take a few steps back to avoid getting sliced and diced. I was amazed that she could even move at all with that cut on her back. She tried to stab his side, but he deflected her easily. She spun on one foot and slammed her knee into his stomach, sending the breath from his lungs in a hurry.

Xigbar retaliated quickly. He cut across her right arm, causing her to almost drop her knife. She regained her control and slashed him on his collarbone, very narrowly missing his neck. They continued to slash at each other in this way for another five minutes. I lost count of how many times skin was torn, or how many times someone was kicked or punched. I desperately wanted to look away, but I was mesmerized by the graceful methods and pure energy these two were expending trying to hurt each other.

But all things must come to an end.

Fuu had just blocked another swing of Xigbar's knife, and she had left her right side open. Xigbar hastily stepped on her right foot and, using brute strength, knocked her to the ground with his shoulder. There was a sickening _crack_ as the foot he was still standing on broke. Fuu landed hard on the ground, her face ashen from the pain. Seifer and Rai were yelling at her to forfeit, to give up, she was going to get herself killed, but she wouldn't listen. She forced herself into a sitting position, gasping when she nudged her broken foot.

Xigbar crouched down next to her. Fuu picked up her knife and swung it at him, almost catching him in the chest, but he caught her hand and practically crushed her fingers. She cried out and dropped her knife. Xigbar picked it up with his other hand and examined it for a second before throwing it away. "What, you're trying to kill me with that pathetic piece of crap? That's almost insulting." He chuckled. He grabbed onto the collar of her shirt and stood up, bringing her up with him.

When he forced her to place weight on her broken right foot, I thought she was going to pass out. Fuu cried out in pain and hopped on her other foot. Xigbar just laughed. He turned to his disgusting friends and said "So, what do you think?"

"Crush her!" "Finish her off!" "Hah, nice one, Xiggy!" "You know what to do!" came the chorus of replies.

Xigbar started to laugh again. As he was turning to look at Fuu, he yelped in pain. Having no other weapon, Fuu had decided to sink her teeth into Xigbar's arm, and it didn't look like she was about to let go. I saw blood flowing where her teeth were.

"Bitch! Let go!" Xigbar shouted angrily. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked as hard as he could, but she still didn't let go. I think it actually hurt him as much as it hurt her, due to the fact that her hair was attached to her head, and she was biting his arm. He let go of her hair and wrapped his fingers around her neck in an effort to choke her.

Fuu reached up and tried to pry off his fingers, but to no avail. Even as her face turned purple from the lack of oxygen, she wouldn't let go. Her teammates were beside themselves on the sideline, shouting at her to let go, and yelling at Xigbar to stop, she couldn't fight anymore. His response was "Do you see this? If she can hold on like this, she can still fight." When she still wouldn't let go, Xigbar seemed to go berserk. He let go of her neck and brought his knife out of his belt.

Everything seemed to go silent as Xigbar took the knife out. Slowly, he dragged it down her arm, from her shoulder to her wrist, leaving a deep gouge.

Fuu's eyes filled with tears, and she finally let go. She dropped to the ground, totally in shock, and she cradled her injured arm with her other arm. She didn't seem to realize that she had landed on her broken foot.

Seifer and Rai were screaming at Xigbar. I couldn't even understand what they were saying. Sora grabbed my hand and tried to force me to look away, but I couldn't comprehend his actions. I could only stare at the small, broken sixteen-year-old girl sitting on the ground.

Xigbar stood over her, breathing heavily. He glared murderously at her. Then, to my complete and utter horror, he kicked her back as hard as he could, causing the cut that was already there to reopen. The pain must have been unbearable for her.

She slumped forward on the gravel, silently crying. She didn't even make a sound when he kicked her again.

I couldn't deal with this. I jumped out of the tree, ignoring Riku's and Sora's cries of dismay. I half-ran, half-stumbled towards the two fighters. Unfortunately, Riku and Sora were there in an instant, keeping me from setting foot on the field. Xigbar continued to beat the life out of Fuu, and no one was doing anything.

"_Stop, stop, STOP IT_!" I shrieked. Xigbar jumped in surprise and turned around to see who was yelling at him. Seifer and Rai ran forward, using the opportunity to grab Fuu and back away carefully. Seifer gently let go of Fuu, and shouted "This Game is officially over. The winner is Xigbar. She can no longer fight." He strode up and stopped in front of Xigbar. Very quietly, he said "I'm gonna kill you, Xigbar. You can be sure of that." With that, he ran back to Rai and began to wrap Fuu's arm in bandages.

Axel strolled forward and offered Xigbar a cigarette. "Nice job, man." He said conversationally, as if commenting on the weather. Never before had I wanted to hurt him more than I did at that moment.

"You monsters! You are the most disgusting filth that ever walked this earth! You—you—!" I found that I was unable to say anything else. I turned away from the Organization members, who were all congratulating Xigbar on his "awesome triumph." I noticed that Sora was staring at my face. I reached a hand up to touch my cheek, and felt that it was wet. I was crying. Great. Just what I needed to do in this situation.

Why the hell are _you_ crying? I thought bitterly. Nothing happened to you.

Sora put his arms around me. I should have felt better, but I didn't.


	10. Chapter 10

The Organization left the field after a few minutes to go celebrate. I saw Seifer flip them off as they left. I had thankfully stopped crying, and my friends and I walked up to Seifer's group to see if we could help. As we approached, Rai stood up and barred our way.

He scowled at Riku and Sora. "What? You guys here to bug us some more, ya know?" He folded his arms and frowned at me. "You don't make any sense, ya know. Hanging out with these bastards." He jutted his chin out at Riku and Sora. I was trying to look around his massive frame to see how Fuu was doing, but he shifted so that his beefy arm was blocking my vision.

I looked up at him. "Rai, we're not here to cause trouble. We want to help. Okay?" I said gently. He didn't look like he believed me. "But they're from the Organization." he said doubtfully, reminding me somehow of a little kid. I glanced over my shoulder at Sora and Riku, who didn't seem to find Rai's behavior surprising.

I looked back at Rai. "I know that. But they just want to help Fuu, like you do. They aren't bad like the other members." Before Rai could respond, I had brushed past him to see the others.

Fuu was in bad shape. She was shaking and had tears running down her face. She kept sobbing "Lost, lost," over and over again. I tried hard not to look at her injuries, but it was practically impossible. There were deep cuts everywhere, and bruises were beginning to form where Xigbar had kicked her. Her foot was bent at an awkward angle, and if it was moved even a little her face would go completely white.

Seifer was doing his best to wrap up the worst of the cuts, but she needed medical attention. I quietly knelt down next to the two of them. "Do you want me to call an ambulance?"

Fuu weakly shook her head no, but Seifer nodded yes. I decided to go with what the fully rational person said, so I pulled out my phone and dialed 911. An operator picked up, and intoned "911, state your emergency." I glanced down at Fuu and said "Uh, I've got a teenage girl in need of immediate medical attention. She's got a lot of cuts and bruises, and her right foot is broken. Could you send an ambulance to 2142 West Side?"

"Of course. Please remain calm. A team of professionals will be dispatched to your location." I quickly hung up the phone before she could ask any questions.

I sat back and looked sadly at Fuu. "Is there anything else I can do to help?" I asked. She began to cry some more and shook her head. I looked up at Seifer. He looked positively frightening. "Do you need any more help?" I asked tentatively. He seemed to see me clearly for the first time. "No. I think we can handle it from here. You can stay, if you guys want to. Couldn't see why you would, though." He looked over at Rai, who was still keeping Riku and Sora away.

"Rai, that's enough. They won't hurt us." he said abruptly. Rai looked back at us in surprise and stepped out of the way. Sora came forward, but Riku stayed where he was. I think that he was uncomfortable with being in such close proximity with the other gang. Sora just seemed open to everyone. I felt absolutely awful about this entire thing, so I made a snap decision. "We'll stay, if that's okay with you guys."

Seifer looked surprised, but he shrugged and said "Okay. Fine." He shifted very slowly so as not to move Fuu's foot too much. He sat back and cradled her like a small child, stroking her hair and quietly telling her that help was coming soon.

So we all waited.

* * *

The ambulance appeared not long after that. The hospital was on the other side of town, so it took a little while for it to show up. When it did, I could practically feel the relief flooding through Rai and Seifer. Fuu was deathly white, and her breathing was a little labored. She'd lost a ton of blood.

They handed her over to the paramedics, who were shocked at the state of their new patient. They asked Seifer what happened, and he just shrugged. "I think she got mugged." He said convincingly.

They looked like they didn't believe a word he said, but they didn't ask any more questions. I'm pretty sure a few of them recognized Sora and Riku for some reason. That worried me a little, but when I looked questioningly at Sora, all he said was "We've been to the hospital a few times." Enough said.

We watched as Fuu was loaded into the back of the ambulance. She looked alarmed at being separated from her friends, but Rai quickly reassured her that they would be at the hospital as soon as they could, and not to worry. "We'll be there for you, ya know? There's no getting rid of us." He smiled at her, and to my complete amazement she almost smiled back.

The paramedics closed the back doors and climbed into the front of the ambulance. The driver looked out the window at us as they were pulling out. "You kids aren't in any trouble, are you?" We all shook our heads silently. He stared at us dubiously and said "Don't worry; we'll take care of her." And with that, they drove away.

We all watched as the ambulance disappeared from sight. Finally, Seifer turned to me and said "Uh, thanks. You know, for making Xigbar stop. And for calling the hospital." He shifted uncomfortably. He wasn't used to thanking people.

I attempted to smile and failed miserably. "No problem. Don't worry about it." I walked over to Sora and Riku. Looking back at Rai and Seifer, I waved and said "I hope you guys get home okay. We'll see you around. Oh, and we'll go check on Fuu later, if that's okay."

Seifer shrugged. "Yeah. That's fine. Um, thanks again." He smirked in that friendly way of his and began walking away. Rai gave me a quick salute, and followed his leader down the road.

I looked at Riku. "Can you guys drive me home now?" He nodded. Sora laid a hand on my shoulder as we began walking toward Riku's truck. "I'm so sorry you had to go through all that. But, you handled it really well."

I managed to smile at him. "Thanks, I guess. Let's just not talk about it, okay? I'm really tired." Neither of them seemed to have any objections to that, so we remained silent almost the entire way home.

When we pulled up to my house I hugged both of them before getting out of the truck. I shut the car door behind me and lingered for a moment, one hand on the door. I looked at the both of them through the window and said "I'll see you guys around, okay?" They nodded and smiled at me. I waved one last time at them before running up to my front door.

I let myself in and ran up to my room, yelling something to my mom about how I was home and going to take a nap. I barely made it to my room before the events of the day fully hit me. I broke down into quiet sobs as images from the fight filled my mind. I lay down on my bed and let the images wash over me, hoping to get the pain and tears over with as soon as possible.

It was almost midnight when the images finally stopped.

* * *

Sora watched as Kairi disappeared into the house. He wished that he could have prevented her from seeing all of those things, but he knew there was no way he could have stopped it. He grimly reflected on the Game they had seen. It unsettled him how much Fuu was like her brother. Jaan had had all the same mannerisms, fighting styles, and the same features that she did—it was like she was his clone, in girl form.

But she hadn't always been like that. Only after he had died had she stopped joking and laughing; only after that had she become as serious as her brother had been. Sora took a deep breath and leaned his head back against the seat. Poor kid. Laughing everything off was the only way he knew how to deal with things. He wondered how she managed it. _I hope she's gonna be okay, _he thought dismally.

As Riku turned the keys in the ignition, he studied his best friend closely. "Man, I hope you know what we just got her into. She's practically one of us now." he said seriously. Sora closed his eyes and groaned. "Yeah, I know." he said quietly.

Riku shook his head. "If Roxas ever finds out what's been happening, it won't be pretty. He's already warned you once." Sora sighed ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I know that too. We don't exactly have a lot of stuff going for us right now." Riku grunted in agreement. Sora looked back at the house as they were driving away. "Man, I hope she's going to be all right. That was some pretty messed up stuff we saw today."

Riku nodded. "Yeah. At least that poor kid didn't end up like Jaan. That would've messed Kairi up for good." Sora grunted in agreement and stared out the window.

_I'm sorry, Kairi. I'm sorry Fuu. I wish I could've stopped this whole thing from happening. _

The nightmares that night were all replays of a silver haired girl being brutally beaten by a shrouded figure. The worst part, like every nightmare that he ever had, was that he could do absolutely nothing to stop it.

* * *

I finally dropped off to sleep around 2:00 am. I had nightmares, but I couldn't remember any of them for once. I sat up, feeling extremely tired, and forced myself to get out of bed. I looked at the clock. 10:43 am.

I groaned and rubbed at my eyes, which were sore and puffy from crying so much. I trudged to the bathroom and took a long, hot shower, which helped a lot. After I put on some clean clothes, I ran down the stairs to the kitchen to get breakfast. My mom was gone; a note was hanging on the fridge telling me that she had gone to brunch with some friends.

I sighed and pulled some pizza from the fridge and heated it in the microwave. After it was done, I wolfed it down and went outside. I went to the garage to get my bike, but then I remembered that Sora had it. Fantastic. Guess I would be walking to Olette's house, then.

I locked the front door and set off. It was sunny and bright outside, so I guess I didn't mind walking all that much. At least Olette lived pretty close by.

It took me about ten minutes to get to her house. It was a mid-size house, made of dark brown wood and stone. It looked like something straight out of Europe, which made me think of the Sound of Music for some reason.

I digress.

I walked up to the front door and rang the bell. I waited for a few seconds then heard footsteps. The door opened, and a woman who looked just like Olette appeared. "Can I help you?" she asked politely.

"Uh, yeah. My name is Kairi; I'm a friend of Olette's. Is she around, by any chance?" Olette's mom smiled and nodded. "She is. She's upstairs in her room. Would you like to speak to her?" I nodded, smiling back at her.

Her mom led me up the stairs and pointed out Olette's doorway. I thanked her and knocked before I walked in. Olette was sitting on her bed, which was a very vibrant orange with green flowers on it. She was deep into a conversation with someone on her cell phone, and she was grinning like an idiot. "Of course I'll go to the dance with you! No, that's totally fine with me. Yeah, okay. Sure. Bye!"

She hung up the phone and began jumping on her bed like crazy. I cleared my throat loudly and grinned at her. She jumped in surprise and practically fell off the bed. She regained her balance and rushed over to give me a hug. "Oh my gosh, Kairi! I was so worried when you left the festival! I can't believe some brat with a piñata bat beat you up. Are you okay?"

My mind went totally blank for a second, and then I remembered that email I had sent everyone. "Oh, right. Yeah, I couldn't believe it either. But I'm totally fine." I laughed nervously.

She hugged me tight and stepped back, getting a good look at my face for the first time. "Wow, that kid did a number on your face," she said, whistling in fake admiration. I laughed at her. "Yep, he sure did."

She giggled and seemed to remember something. "Oh my gosh, you'll never believe this." She trilled in excitement. I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what's that?" She grinned hugely and said "Hayner asked me to go to the homecoming dance with him! Roxas already asked Namine, and Pence is taking some girl from his neighborhood. Now I have a date, too! And he is the sweetest date anyone could ever have!" she gushed.

I laughed at her sudden exuberance. "Well, congratulations, then." I said. "I'm very happy for you both." She nodded, still zoned in her own world.

She suddenly gasped. "Wait, Kairi, who are you going with? You haven't told me yet." Oh. I didn't see that one coming. I hadn't really thought about until now. "Uh, I don't have a date yet. No big deal, though. I don't see a problem with not having a date." I was abruptly smacked in the head.

"Kairi! How can you say that? This is one of the dances at our school that you positively need a date for! I can't believe no one has asked you yet. I mean, you're pretty _and_ funny. What else is there? Well, you could also have brains, but that is beside the point." Ouch. That stung a little. "Hey, I have brains!" I said indignantly.

She waved one hand absent-mindedly at me. "Okay, I'm sure there are a couple of guys in my English class who could ask you to the dance. Oh, then there's Brandon in Latin . . . Oh, never mind, he asked Shelley . . . Well, I could always see if one of my brothers or cousins would ask you to go--"

"Olette! I'm fine, really. Besides, I think I already know someone who I want to ask me." She immediately stopped her ramblings and focused on me, her eyes lighting up. "Really? Who is it? Do I know them? Are they tall? Do they--"

I held up my hands in front of my face, giggling at her incessant questions. 'Yeah, you know them. Yeah, they're tall, and I think he has exceptionally beautiful blue eyes." I felt myself blushing just remembering all these things about him. Olette's smile broadened. "Oooh, he's making you blush, whoever he is. Come on, tell me. Who is it?"

I grinned foolishly. "Sora Kingsley."

Olette's smile slowly faded, and I could literally feel her radiance dim. She took a step back and regarded me dubiously. "Sora Kingsley?"

I nodded my head, still grinning slightly.

"Oh." She folded her arms and studied my face. "Are -- are you sure that's a good idea?" I felt a little confused. Hadn't she liked Sora and Riku before? When I voiced this question, all she did was shake her head. "Yeah, I said they were all right, but not to go out with. You know?"

"No, I don't know. What's the problem?" I asked curiously. She hugged herself tighter and avoided looking at me. "Well, um, Roxas said that it would be bad if you went out with them anymore. And, well, I kinda believe him."

I could only stare. "Why would that be a bad thing?" I asked angrily. "Those guys are my _friends_. They aren't gonna hurt me or anything!"

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "It's not them that I'm worried about. It's those other guys. Especially that pyro kid, the one who did all that stuff to Namine." For some reason the fact that Axel was a pyro didn't surprise me.

"That's so not gonna happen." I said. "They protect me from everything, believe me." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Kairi, how many times have they needed to protect you from something? How much have you been hanging out with them?"

Crap. I'd forgotten how sharp Olette actually was. "Um, I, well, not that much." I said quickly. Of course she saw right through my lie. "Kairi, tell me again. How did you get that black eye?" she asked quietly.

I knew that I'd been caught. "Look, it was a one-time thing, okay? I was trying to keep them away from you guys." She threw up her hands and turned around in exasperation. "Kairi, we're trying to protect _you_. Not the other way around. Don't you get that you don't need to go through this? Just don't hang out with them anymore. It's not worth it."

I glared at her. "No. It is worth it. They are my _friends_. Isn't that a good thing? I can hang out with them if I want to. It's my choice." Her eyes actually filled with tears. She looked away from me, clearly very upset. She glanced back at me, her green eyes swimming.

"Namine said the exact same thing to me, last year. 'It's my choice.' Well, her choice landed her in the hospital for months! We told her not to go anywhere near the Organization, but she went out with Roxas anyway!"

She stopped and looked at me. "I'm not going to let another one of my friends go through that. I'm going to tell the others. If anyone can talk some sense into you, Roxas and Namine can."

She took a shuddering breath and calmed herself. She walked up to me and gave me a hug. "It's for your own good, Kairi. I hope you can realize that." I said nothing. I just stood there stiffly, not wanting to show any emotion whatsoever.

She let go of me and stepped back. "I think you should go home and think about this. Can I talk to you later?"

I nodded briskly. "Yep. Of course. Bye, Olette." I turned and walked down the hall. She called out a goodbye, but I didn't answer. At the foot of the stairs, I thanked her mother and left for home.

* * *

Roxas was lying in his bed, dozing. Suddenly the phone rang. Blearily, he read the caller ID; Olette Cell. He picked up and said "Hello?"

The conversation didn't last long. At the end, he said "Yeah, I'm on it."

He threw the phone across the room after he hung up. _Sora, _he thought furiously, _I'm gonna need to have a little chat with you._

* * *

**A/N:**

**Next chapter coming soon! **

**I need to hear what you think! Review, please.**


	11. Chapter 11

I went home and made myself some toast. After I ate it, I decided that I had to get up and do something. I ended up watching T.V. most of the day, and I even started cleaning my room. Although I quickly gave up on that.

As I was sifting through things in my dresser drawers, I found a picture of me and my old best friend, Selphie. I looked intently at the small photo. We had our arms around each other's shoulders, and we were at the beach. It was sunny out, and we were in our bathing suits.

I looked so young in that picture, so different. I looked genuinely happy. I had barely remembered what Selphie looked like until I had picked up the picture. I felt years, decades older, and with much bigger problems than that girl in the photo.

I found a frame in another drawer, and I carefully slipped the picture inside. I gently set the frame up on the top of the dresser, trying to remember what genuine happiness felt like. And, sadly, I couldn't, until the memory of having Sora's arms around me popped into my head. The memory of sitting in the truck cabin, being comforted by two of the most awesome people in the world also came into my mind.

I sighed. I loved my new friends to pieces; Hayner's sportiness, Pence's understanding, Olette's keen intelligence, Namine's kindness, and Roxas's quiet strength. It wasn't that I was unhappy with my new friends – I loved being with them. But I also loved my two other friends; Sora and Riku. There wasn't anything I could do about it.

I looked at the clock – 5:32 pm. My mom had been back for a while, but I had barely spoken to her. I knew that she had figured out that something was wrong with her daughter, and she didn't know what. I felt terrible about excluding her, but I had the nagging feeling that she would make everything worse.

I steeled myself – I knew that I had to tell her _something_, at least to get her worries to lessen.

So I ran for the stairs before I could change my mind or wimp out. As I was running down the stairs, I called out "Hey, Mom? I gotta tell you--"

When I saw who my mom was chatting with in the kitchen as she was preparing dinner, I stopped dead. I felt icy fingers of dread close in around my heart. I couldn't believe it. Not here. How did he find me?

"_Axel_," I breathed.

Axel was sitting at the kitchen counter, sipping a coke. I was rooted to the spot, and the whole room seemed to be spinning.

"Oh, Kairi! Glad to see you finally came out of your room." My mom said jokingly. "We have a guest – this is Axel O'Hanlon, he goes to your school. He's a few years older than you, so I don't think you've met. Axel, this is my daughter, Kairi. She's a sophomore."

"Wha-what are you doing here?" I asked numbly. My mother frowned at me. "Kairi, don't be rude. He found your bike and brought it back. I invited him in for a few minutes so I could keep making dinner, and so you could thank him yourself. And besides, he seems trustworthy enough."

Axel smirked at me and said "Why, thank you, Mrs. Avery. I'm flattered."

He pushed away from the counter and stood up. 'Well, I think my work here is done. Thanks again, Mrs. Avery." She smiled at him. "Oh, anytime. I hope we will see you again soon. Kairi, be a dear and show him the door."

"Yes Mom." I said quietly. My entire body felt as heavy as lead as I led the way to the door. When I was positive my mom couldn't hear, I growled "What the hell are you doing here, Axel?"

He pretended to look hurt. "Why, Kairi, you aren't happy to see me? Even though I brought your bike back?" He snickered. "That hurts."

I glared at him. "What do you want?" He laughed quietly and said "Well, I find it's always a good thing to know just where a person lives. It makes it so much easier to return lost objects that way. Got it memorized, princess?" he said mockingly, brushing hair off of my face.

I slapped away his hand and muttered "Get out of my house." He snickered at me again and said "Fine. As you wish, _princess_." He stepped through the doorway. As he was descending the steps, he glanced back at me and smirked. "Oh, and leaving your address on your bike really helped a lot. Now we know where you live."

I closed the door quietly, the panic settling in my chest.

I staggered back to the kitchen to my mom. She grinned at me as I sat at the table. "He sure was handsome, Kairi. Have you seen him before?" I slowly nodded yes. "Yeah, Mom. I have."

She clapped her hands together. "Oh, you two would make a great couple! Two redheads and all that." I suddenly lost it. I couldn't do it. I couldn't.

"Mom, just shut up! You don't know what you're talking about! So just shut up already!" I shouted. I felt a lump settle in my throat..

My mother looked shocked. "Kairi, don't you dare raise your voice to me like that. If something is wrong, you tell me. But don't you dare yell at me!" I felt the tears running down my cheeks. "I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm sorry." I choked out, my voice wavering. "But he isn't n-nice. At all. How c-could you let him into our h-house? How _could_ you!?" I sobbed.

My mom sensed that this wasn't the usual kind of thing that I would do. She didn't ask any questions; she just came around the table and hugged me tightly. I sobbed into her shoulder, feeling furious and helpless at the same time.

Now not even my own home was safe.

* * *

Sora was sitting on the couch at the Organization's hangout. The sun was setting, and most of the other members were out 'acquiring' new materials. Sora picked up the remote and flipped on the T.V.

After a few minutes of flipping channels, he concluded that nothing good was on. He turned off the T.V. and leaned back against the couch, wondering what Kairi was doing.

He heard footsteps behind him. He craned his neck to look around the back of the couch at the source of the noise. Xigbar stood there, one of his precious knives in hand. Xigbar was muttering angrily to himself a he tried to clean the knife properly. It still had dark red stains on it. Sora looked away, disgusted.

Xigbar fell onto the couch with a thud and sighed loudly. He stopped cleaning and held the knife up to the light. He grinned and looked at Sora.

"Man, that bitch wasn't a quitter, was she? I still can't get all her filthy blood off of my good knife. Hah, but I was too much for her, in the end." He laughed cruelly at Sora's sharp expression. Sora glowered at the senior Organization member. He had never liked him; he was cruel, sadistic, and full of himself. He also loved beating up girls—especially ones who couldn't defend themselves.

Sora let out a breath. He didn't think he would've minded if Fuu had taken him down. It would have been her revenge, and, in an abstract way, it would have been Namine's.

Sora didn't think he could stand being in the same room with that monster for one more second. He heaved himself off of the couch and walked out the front door. He heard Xigbar turn the T.V. back on.

It was a damp, cool night out, and dark clouds were gathering. Sora glanced around at the yard. They really needed to clean out all the rubble and trash. He stretched out on the front lawn, thinking about what he'd gotten himself into. Kairi was a major target for the Organization, his old best friend hated him, and his current best friend also liked Kairi, but was keeping his feelings clamped down. And not to mention the huge Game that just occurred.

Sora took a deep breath. He could smell the rain that was coming.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a skateboard coming up the street. Sora sat up, wondering who it could be. He could see the figure coming up the street, but he couldn't make out who it was in the darkness. "Hello?" He called softly. The figure didn't answer, but it was clear that they were heading for the hangout.

Sora strained his eyes. "Who are you?" He called. The person had stopped skateboarding and was walking across the lawn. As they approached, Sora saw who it was in the light from the windows.

"Roxas? Roxas, what're you--" before he could finish the sentence, Roxas had punched him in the face. Hard.

Before Sora could stand up straight, Roxas had hauled him up by the front of his shirt. "What did I tell you would happen if something bad happened to Kairi?" He growled. "Why didn't you listen to me? You're screwing up her life!" He threw him to the ground. "What, do you just not care what happens to her?"

Sora picked himself up off the ground. "I care what happens to her!" he protested. Roxas tackled him and put him in a headlock. "Oh, yeah? Then why does she have those bruises, huh? Were those from yesterday, or from the festival? Explain that to me."

Sora threw Roxas off of him and said "Look, she didn't get those at the Game yesterday, if that's what you're thinking." Roxas stood there, completely motionless. "What? You took her to a GAME?!" he thundered. Roxas lunged and knocked Sora to the ground and pinned his arms behind his back with his knees.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" he hissed. "Are you just trying to get her killed? Is that it? Or are you still trying to make up for not helping Namine?"

Sora managed to kick Roxas off of him. He sprang up, panting, and glared at him. "I'm not trying to get her killed; I'm trying to help her. And I've already apologized thousands of times. What do you want from me?"

Roxas stood up and shouted "I want you to stay out of her life! Just leave us all alone! I should have left Namine alone, and look what happened! You are such a complete moron. I'm the perfect example of what could happen, and you still don't get it. Just don't talk to her anymore!"

Sora rushed at him and knocked him over. The two of them struggled with each other on the lawn, completely oblivious to the activity that was happening quietly near them.

* * *

Down the street, Seifer and Rai were sitting in their car, loading their guns with bullets. Seifer glanced up at Rai and said "Ready?"

Rai clicked the safety off. Grimly, he answered "Ready, boss."

The car drove forward.

* * *

Roxas had gained the upper hand and had dragged Sora behind one of the sparse bushes in front of the hangout. Sora kicked out at him, trying to get away from him. Roxas slammed him into the decayed front of the hangout, causing him to lose all the air in his lungs.

Sora swung a fist at Roxas and missed. He tripped over his own feet and landed backwards behind a large pile of bricks in the bushes. The two of them were right underneath the window.

* * *

The two boys fighting behind the bushes were invisible to the two teenagers in the car. As they slowly drove nearer, Rai spotted the target through the window. "Boss, I see Xigbar. He's on the couch, ya know."

Seifer glanced out and confirmed that it was him. When they reached optimal range, he shouted "Ready, fire!"

* * *

The two boys weren't expecting gunfire. Sora heard the first shot and curled into a protective ball behind the pile of bricks. Glancing up, he saw Roxas—he was still standing upright. "Roxas, get down! Duck!"

Roxas was too late.

Three bullet holes appeared in his shirt, two high, and one low. He landed hard on the ground next to Sora.

"_Roxas!"_

Suddenly, Xigbar was firing back through the window. Sora saw that he'd been hit in the shoulder, but was otherwise unharmed. The people in the car saw that Xigbar's automatic gun far outmatched their own, and they pulled out of there fast.

Sensing that the gunfire had ceased, Sora immediately got up and brought Roxas with him. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911.

The ambulance showed up not long after that.

* * *

I was sitting in my kitchen, vaguely telling my mom about how 'some girl at my school had been attacked by Axel and his friends' when the phone rang. Olette was on the other line. I could barely understand what she was saying. "Olette, Olette, slow down. I don't what you're saying." I heard her sobbing over the phone.

"Kairi! Roxas has been shot!"

* * *

My mom drove me to the hospital, trying to comfort me the whole time. Unfortunately for me, her words of comfort are almost exactly like her pep talks. The whole time we were driving, I felt this unnamed fear choking off my air supply, to the point where I thought I would suffocate.

"Mom, you need to go faster." She looked at me with something like pity. "Kairi, it's okay. I'm pretty sure he'll be alive when you get there. Probably."

_Probably? _I thought I was going to hyperventilate. We were taking too long. "Mom, please. Just _please _go a little faster."

We pulled up to the front of the hospital. I threw myself out of the car while it was still moving, and I sprinted for the sliding doors. The first drops of rain hit the pavement as I flew through the doors. I looked around wildly for the front desk, hoping they could tell me where to find my friends.

I didn't have to look far. I heard a voice somewhere to my right say "Kairi!" I turned sharply and saw Hayner and Olette. I ran forward to them and enveloped them in a hug. Olette's eyes were red and puffy, and Hayner seemed to be staying strong, for her sake.

"Where is he? Is he okay?" I said breathlessly. Hayner shook his head and said "He's in surgery right now. He was shot three times: one got him in the shoulder, one punctured his lung, and the other one got him in the stomach area." He had to take a few deep breaths. He didn't say anything more.

Olette let go of me and buried her face in Hayner's shoulder. I felt tears pricking the corners of my eyes. "Where are Pence and Namine?" I asked shakily. Hayner gestured over his shoulder at the waiting area.

I stumbled past them to the rows of padded chairs in the waiting area. I saw Pence and Namine sitting in the corner next to a window overlooking the parking lot. I numbly made my way over to them, bumping into chairs and several patients on the way. I ignored the irritated protests and kept going.

I finally came up to them. Pence was rubbing Namine's shoulder, trying to comfort her. Namine was curled up on her seat, with her head on the arm of the chair, sobbing hysterically. I sat down on her other side. She didn't seem to notice that I was there. I looked over at Pence. "How is she?" I asked quietly. He just shook his head. I felt hot tears sliding down my face for the second time that day.

I glanced over at Hayner and Olette, who were still standing by the entrance. Hayner was openly crying now, and was trying to reassure Olette at the same time. He kept telling her that Roxas would be okay, that he was tough and would make it through. It seemed like he was trying to convince himself of that as much as he was trying to convince her. They were hugging each other tightly, as if they were afraid of losing each other as well.

I looked back over at Pence. He wasn't crying, but, then again, he seemed to be the kind of guy who internalized his problems. He had his fingers laced tightly together, so tightly that his knuckles were white. I put one hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" I asked, my voice quavering. He looked briefly at me and then looked away, shaking his head no. I thought I saw tears in his eyes, but he looked away so quickly that I couldn't really tell. I rubbed his arm briefly and told him that everything would be all right. "It's like Hayner said – Roxas is t-tough, he'll make it th-through. Right?" I said a little too brightly, trying to smile comfortingly through my tears.

Still keeping his head down, he nodded at me, not trusting his voice. I let go of his arm and looked down at Namine. She looked like a little girl who'd been deprived of her savior, her knight in shining armor. Which, in fact, she had. She looked like her whole world was on the brink of collapse.

I scooted over and propped her up against my side. I held onto her tightly. She blinked through her tears and seemed to register that I was there. She took a deep, shuddering breath and said "Kairi! Roxas h-has b-been shot. He's been sh-shot!" She started crying harder. I held her close and smoothed her hair.

"Shh, everything's going to be all right. Everything's gonna be all right. Roxas is going to walk out of there just fine, and he's going to take you to the homecoming dance in two weeks, and he's going to look back on this and laugh, t-telling everyone how he . . . he . . . w-was shot, and how he was just too strong for it."

She continued to cry, soaking the fabric of my shirt. I felt my hope start to crumble, and I prayed to God that what I had said was true.

_Roxas, _I thought as I began to sob openly_, don't you dare leave us here. Don't leave Namine here. Please._

* * *

The funeral was set for the following Friday.

* * *

**A/N:**

**I am so mean to these characters. **

**I actually teared up a little while I wrote this.**

**Sorry, guys! Review, please.**


	12. Chapter 12

The doctors and nurses were very kind to us. They brought us pillows and blankets so we could stay in the waiting room overnight if we wanted to.

The rain was pouring down outside, as if heaven was mourning along with us.

I don't ever remember seeing so much grief in one group of people. Roxas had been something special to each of us: a new friend, a best friend, a loving boyfriend. There wasn't a dry eye in sight. Even some of the nurses couldn't come near us for fear that they would break down in tears as well.

Mostly people just stared. They didn't understand why three girls and three – I mean, two – teenage boys were so upset. They whispered behind their hands about us, and shot us dirty looks sometimes. I guess our sobbing was a bit too inconvenient for them. God, I hate people.

One of the doctors finally lost his patience with the rudeness the other patrons were showing us and told the whole waiting room that we had just lost a dear friend, and to show some respect.

Finally, the nicest nurse, her name was Holly, gently told us that we could go see him if we wanted to.

You know, right before she said that, I had actually managed to stop crying for a minute or two. So much for that.

We were a sorry sight to see as we proceeded down the hallways. We all had puffy red eyes, and poor Namine was devastated. Olette and I had to support her almost the whole way there. The only way we knew that she was actually a living person was that she couldn't stop crying. Practically the whole hospital had heard by now that some boy had been shot and killed in a drive-by shooting. Patients and doctors alike stopped what they were doing and watched us as we made our way to his room.

We finally reached his door. None of us wanted to open it. The doctor, a kind looking man in his forties, offered to open it for us.

I was the one who spoke up. "Um, sorry, doctor?" I asked, my voice breaking on the last word, "Can we all, um, j-just have a minute to ourselves? Please?"

He nodded sympathetically. He turned around and walked down the hall, leaving the five of us all alone. I felt my shoulders start to shake as I faced the door. _Please, please don't cry. _I begged myself.

It was no use. The flow of tears started up again, and I acquired a lump in my throat that I couldn't seem to swallow. It seemed like my friends were having the same difficulties.

I reached up and placed my hand on the doorknob, but I couldn't find the strength to turn it. I looked to Olette for help. She saw me look at her, and she broke down into tears.

I realized that we were wasting time. I gathered up what courage I could, and I forced the door open. I was almost blinded by the fluorescent white lights, since my eyes were already extra sensitive from crying so much. I stumbled forward as the door swung open, almost tripping over myself, as usual. My friends filed in behind me.

We all stood as still as statues when we entered the room. None of us could bring ourselves to disturb the dead silence. Roxas—or Roxas's body – was lying on a white hospital bed, the sheets the same color as his face. He looked so peaceful, like he had found relief from all the pain and anger he had suffered while he was living.

He looked exactly the same as he did when I last saw him – except for the fact that he had three dark, round stains in his shirt, and he was no longer breathing.

Namine broke the trance. She took two halting steps forward. Her hands slowly fisted themselves into her hair, and she emitted one long, low cry full of loss and grief. Sobs wracked her thin frame, and she began to cry so hard I was afraid she might choke. She crumpled to the floor and just sat there, oblivious to everything else.

It was too much for me. My vision blurred behind a wall of water, and I buried my face in my hands, not wanting to see the broken expressions on my friends' faces.

I felt arms wrap themselves around me, and I found myself clinging to Pence and Hayner for dear life. Olette sat on the floor beside Namine, crying her eyes out, but still finding the strength to comfort her friend.

And we stayed in that small, crowded room with our friend, Roxas, until some of the nurses came in the morning to move his body so the room could be used for someone else.

* * *

Some distance away from the hospital, a teenage boy with spiky brown hair and blue eyes finally dragged himself back into the ramshackle house behind him. As he walked through the door, rain ran off his body in rivulets, leaving puddles on the floor. It had been several hours since he'd moved a muscle. He'd stood out on the front lawn in the rain, remembering all the times he'd spent with the boy they had carted away in the ambulance.

Sora moved blindly through the house, bumping into things and knocking objects over. All the good memories far outnumbered the bad ones, which made the fact that his best friend was really gone all the more painful.

Sora staggered into the kitchen, trying to shut down the memories before they could take over. He needed to forget. He couldn't deal with this. He searched for something, anything, to ease his pain. The fridge stood out like a beacon. He stumbled forward, knowing he would hate himself later for what he was about to do, but not really caring.

He yanked the door open, the cool air washing over him. He quickly searched around for the little silver cans that he hadn't touched for almost a year. He found them in the back of the fridge and picked one up. He hastily opened it and drained it in one swallow. It wasn't enough. He needed more. He needed relief. Now.

He pulled out the rest of the cans of beer and opened one after another, drinking the whole thing and moving on, tossing each can into the darkness when he was done.

At the end of the night, Sora succeeded in forgetting about his worries, if just for a little while.

* * *

I was rudely awakened at about 5:33 am when Nurse Holly opened up the door and hit me in the head with it. I had fallen asleep on the floor, curled up next to my friends. When I jumped in surprise, not remembering where I was or what had happened, I woke my friends by accident. They all sat up and looked around blearily, clearly not remembering where they were either.

Unfortunately, we all began to remember at around the same time. Olette ran to the bathroom, saying she might throw up, and Hayner and Pence just sat there, unmoving. They looked so sad that I felt my heart ache. Suddenly, I realized that Namine wasn't with the rest of us. I looked around wildly, worried about what might have happened to her.

When I found her, I almost started to cry again. She was curled up, sleeping soundly, at the foot of Roxas's bed. She looked so innocent, so untroubled in sleep. She didn't worry or grieve or feel pain while she was lying there. I knew I would not be the one to wake her up and bring her back to reality.

I silently got up and left the room. I couldn't stand being in there for another moment.

I leaned back against the wall outside the door and slid down to the floor. I brought my knees up under my chin and fought down a wave of nausea that suddenly swept over me. The vague thought that it was a Monday flitted through my mind. I knew that none of us would be in class today.

I let my head thump back against the wall. The very thought of moving ever again made me want to throw up.

Just then Olette came wandering back down the hall. She looked positively green and miserable. I guess I must have looked the same way. She slid down next to me and put her arms around me.

"You know, Roxas was so happy when you became friends with him." She said quietly. "A lot of other people in this town would never even look at him in the face; they were all too scared of him. We were the only ones he had. And when you came along, you made our group just a little bit bigger. You really meant a lot to him—we all did. He really loved his friends." She had to stop and take some deep breaths.

I knew if she said any more I would crumble. 'Thank you, so much, Olette. Thank you. I really – I really am happy to hear that." I choked out. She nodded silently, not wanting to speak. I hugged her tighter. I needed my friends close to me at a time like this – and I knew she did too.

Back in the room, I heard the nurse gently waking Namine. I shut my eyes tight, knowing that whatever escape rest had provided was now over.

I heard her moving around as she got her bearings. And, just as the rest of us had done, she remembered everything all in a rush. Quiet sobs could be heard through the door, penetrating my ears and causing me to cry all over again.

I slowly let go of Olette and covered my ears. Olette did the same. We didn't want to hear Namine's heart breaking all over again. I wish it hadn't been broken in the first place.

* * *

After a while, Pence and Hayner walked out and joined Olette and me on the floor. I wasn't surprised to see the tears running down their faces. We were all at least reasonably calmer today; I guess sleeping had helped the shock a bit. I pulled the two of them into a hug as I had done with Olette.

The three of us held onto each other for a moment and then pulled Olette in. No one said anything, but we didn't need to.

By now, the sobbing in the next room had stopped, and we had enough courage to go in and get Namine. What I saw would forever be imprinted in my mind. Namine was holding Roxas's hand, and she was just coming down from her hysterics. There was so much pain, so much anguish in her expression, that I just wanted to look away. But that isn't what friends do.

The four of us walked up to her and embraced her. She fell back against us, seemingly drained of all her energy. We somehow managed to say goodbye to Roxas and get Namine to walk with us into the hallway before the nurses came in to retrieve the body so someone else could have the room.

We finally got out to the waiting room. The blankets and pillows that had been there had been cleared away, showing no trace that we had been there at all the previous night. I looked around at the large, colorful room in disgust. It was far too bright and cheerful for a time like this.

We all had to call our parents to tell them the news, and to tell them that we were all coming home. Hayner and Olette left first, since Hayner had driven them both there. Pence and I both waited until Cloud came to pick up Namine before we called our parents. Cloud arrived at about 6:10. We walked Namine out to meet him.

I looked up at the sky. The rain had finally stopped, and it was going to be a gray, bleak day. There were large puddles everywhere, and Pence, Namine, and I barely missed getting splashed by one as Cloud's car skidded to a halt.

Cloud ran forward and gave his sister a huge hug. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked softly. She shook her head dejectedly. He closed his eyes briefly and nodded his head. Then he fixed his blue eyes on us and said "I'm really sorry, you guys. He was a good kid."

We nodded, not trusting a verbal response. He waved a goodbye and helped his sister into the car. We both waved as they drove away.

When they had left the parking lot, Pence turned to me and half-smiled. "Do you need a ride home, Kairi? It'd be no problem."

I shook my head and half-smiled back. "No, that's okay. I've got some stuff I need to do before I go home anyway. But thank you, though." He shrugged and said "No problem."

He gave me a hug and jogged across the lot to his car. I waved as he left the hospital parking lot, trying to keep a friendly smile on my face for more than two seconds. After he left, I pulled out my cell phone, and with trembling fingers, I dialed Riku's number.

"Riku? Listen, can you come to the hospital? There's something I need to tell you. No, no, I'm fine. Yeah, I'll wait here."

I hung up the phone and sighed. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Riku showed up about five minutes later. I heard the truck tires screeching on the wet pavement as he rounded the corner into the parking lot. He pulled to a stop in the nearest parking space and jumped out of the truck. I waved at him. He looked up and saw me and came jogging over. When he saw my face, he broke into a run.

He slid to a halt in front of me. "Kairi, what's wrong? Are you all right?"

I held up my hands in front of me. "Yes, I'm all right." I said quietly. "But there's something you need to know."

It took me about ten minutes to finish the story. Riku's expression didn't change the entire time. If anything, his face became more and more emotionless. When I was finished, I was on the verge of crying _again_, for what felt like the thousandth time in two days.

Riku didn't say a word. He turned away from me, so that I couldn't see his face. "Who shot him?" He asked slowly. I caught the slight wavering in his voice. "I don't know. They didn't find out." I said softly.

He abruptly faced me. 'What do you mean they didn't find out?!" he shouted. His hands were shaking. I shrugged quickly. "I-I'm not sure. They didn't tell us any--"

He grabbed my shoulders and shook me back and forth. "Why haven't they done anything? He was _killed_! They should know who did it!" I stared at him with wide eyes. He was crushing my shoulders. "Riku, you're hurting me." I said. Realization dawned on his face. He immediately let go of me.

"Kairi, I'm so sorry. I, I didn't mean it." He said quietly. I rubbed my arms and looked up at him sadly. I saw the tears forming in his eyes. I stepped forward and gave him a hug. He was unresponsive for a few moments, and then he let it out. I held onto him while he silently mourned the loss of his friend. I could feel him crying, and he trying not to show it. Several minutes later, he took a deep breath and gently pushed me away.

"I'm fine." He said briskly. "I'm fine."

I smiled comfortingly at him. "I know. Everything's gonna be okay."

He nodded and turned around. I heard him trying to breathe as evenly as possible. I walked forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. He stiffened at my touch. He slowly pushed my hand away. "I said," he murmured angrily, "I'm fine." I didn't try to comfort him again.

He sat on a stone bench by the curb. I hesitated before joining him. I sat down on the other end of the bench, wanting to help him, but not wanting to get too close. We sat there in silence for a while, both of us lost in thought. Finally, he said "Does Sora know yet?"

That thought struck me deep. I hadn't wanted to be the one to tell him. I was hoping that Riku would be able to relate the news better than I would. "I. . . . I don't know." I said quietly.

But wherever he was, I sure hoped Sora was okay.

* * *

We sat on the bench for a few minutes more. People passed by us to get into the hospital. One of them looked painfully similar to Roxas. I had been halfway up off of my seat before I saw his face and realized it wasn't him. _Great,_ I thought bitterly, _now you're seeing ghosts._

I looked at my phone. It was almost seven am. I glanced over at Riku. He seemed like a statue – cold and unmovable. I waited for a few seconds to see if he would do anything, and concluding that he wouldn't, I reached over and gently tapped his shoulder.

He snapped to attention. It would have been almost comical on any other day. "Hey, Riku? Can you drive me home? I need to talk to my mom." He seemed to contemplate this for a moment. "Yeah. We can go now."

I followed him to his truck, wondering what my mom was doing right now. I wished I could have told her everything, but she just doesn't handle the heavy stuff. She's flighty and ditzy and a little self centered sometimes, but I knew that she loved me.

Riku stopped before he climbed into the truck. He squinted a little at the front doors of the hospital. "Hey, isn't that Seifer?" I looked over my shoulder at the doors. Sure enough, Seifer was striding purposefully through the glass doors. He must have been visiting Fuu.

I nodded at Riku. "Yeah, that was him. He's probably checking in on Fuu."

He shook his head and got into the truck, slamming the door behind him. I did the same.

As we were driving, something popped into my head that I wished would go away, but I knew it needed to be taken care of. "Riku, who's going to pay for the funeral? Where are his parents?" He rubbed his eyes with one hand. "As far as I know, his father's still in prison, and his mother ran away. So, I have no freaking idea." He sighed. "Well, if it comes right down to it, I'll borrow some money to pay for it."

I glanced sharply at him. "Borrow it from who?" He avoided my eyes. "Look, just understand that it'll be paid for, okay?"

I didn't say anything more until we reached my house.

When he pulled to a stop, I looked over at him. He was still stone-faced; and he kept avoiding looking at me. I knew it was his way of dealing with loss and grief, but I still wanted him to talk to me. I leaned over and, using up a lot of courage, I put my arms around him. He didn't move for a long time, and then he hugged me back. I pulled away, trying not to break down in front of him. I slid out of the truck and closed the door. I turned and looked back through the open window and studied his face.

"You take care of yourself, okay?" I said softly. He looked at me briefly, and I saw all his pain and anger flash across his face. Then, he looked away again and said. "Yeah. No problem. I'll see you around." And, without another word, he drove away.

I stood on the front walk for a few minutes longer, watching the blue truck disappear from sight. Finally, I willed myself to move and headed into the house.

My mother was waiting for me. She may not always be the smartest person around, but her intuition is always dead-on. She didn't ask me any questions; she just got up from her chair and put her arms around me. It was the safest I had felt in a long time. I felt all resistances crumble, and I felt the tears start to run down my face. _Again_.

She didn't make me go to school. She just brought me upstairs and led me to my bed. I collapsed on top of it, suddenly feeling exhausted. She left the room and closed the door quietly behind her. I spent at least an hour crying, and then I finally succumbed to much-needed sleep.

* * *

Riku pulled the truck into the hangout's garage. It took him a few moments to remember how to open the car door. He slowly picked his way across the front lawn and made it to the door. When he carelessly threw it open, he saw something that he had hoped to never see again. Sora was passed out on the couch, clutching the remains of a six-pack in his hand. There were little silver cans of the stuff everywhere, even under the couch.

Riku almost got back into the truck right there and then. The knowledge that Sora must have had a reason for doing this troubled him greatly. _He already knew, _he thought sadly.

He carefully made his way through the mess and sat down on the end of the sofa. He dropped his head into his hands and took a deep breath. The fact that Roxas was gone just didn't seem possible. He had always been a fighter, a survivor. How could he possibly be dead?

Riku raised his head out of his hands and looked at Sora. He didn't know how Sora was going to act. Riku didn't even know how _he_ was going to act. Even if they found the person who killed Roxas, what would they do then? They weren't killers. They wouldn't turn them over to the police, that would raise too many suspicions and questions.

Riku sat back on the couch and closed his eyes, remembering everything about their friend. He sighed. The next few days weren't going to be easy.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Hey everybody. Sorry this was so depressing! **

**Let me hear your opinions. They're really helping me out! **

**Review, please.**


	13. Chapter 13

I woke up at noon. My mind felt raw, like it had been run over by cheese graters. I pushed myself off the bed and stretched. My neck was still sore from sleeping on the hospital floor. I groaned and stood up on shaky legs.

I somehow managed to make it to the kitchen without falling on my face. My mom was sitting at the kitchen table, staring into space. I tapped on the wall to let her know I was there. Her head snapped up, and she relaxed when she saw me.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. You scared me for a second. I didn't hear you coming down the stairs." I sat down opposite her and studied her face. Was it my imagination, or were those tear streaks on her face? I wasn't sure. "Mom, are you okay?" I asked curiously. My voice sounded like old sandpaper, and it scratched the back of my throat when I spoke.

She looked up at me quickly and smiled in a way that I think was supposed to be reassuring. "What? No, I'm fine, honey. You shouldn't worry about me." She reached an arm across the table and laid her hand over mine. "It's my job to worry about you, not the other way around."

She lowered her eyes and withdrew her hand. After letting out a breath, she looked at me and said "Kairi, I know that there are some things that you won't tell me, and I can understand that. But clue me in from time to time, okay? I know that you're in some kind of trouble, and I want to help in any way I can." She folded her hands on the table and stared at her interlaced fingers. Her eyes misted over, and she gripped her hands tightly. Quietly, she said. "I worry about you so much. I hear so many horror stories on the news about this area, and what some of the kids around here do to each other. I don't know if you're going to come home all right, sometimes."

She looked up at me and smiled a watery smile. "I love you so much. I know I'm not the best mother in the world, but I do try. I really do. I just want you to know that."

Whoa. Talk about a guilt trip. As if I didn't have enough on my plate already. I suddenly got a lump in my throat, and I took deep breaths and blinked to clear away the tears. I tried to smile at her, but I couldn't.

"I know you try, Mom. I do. And I think you're a pretty good mom." I didn't really have many good mothers to compare her to – Sora's mom was a druggie, I'd never met Pence's or Hayner's parents, and Roxas's mom had run away. The only mom I had met was Olette's mom, and she seemed like a pretty good parent. So I compared my mom to her. And, when it came down to it, I think my mom was the best parent I could have.

I thought about all the things that had happened to me since I'd moved here, and I realized that my mom had good reason to worry if I came home okay or not. I had kept her isolated; I didn't want her to worry about me. But I realized that by not telling her anything, I had made her worry even more.

My mom sat back in her chair and tilted her head at me. "Do you really think I'm a good parent?" I nodded at her. She seemed to take great relief from this. She took a huge breath and let it all rush out. "Thank you, sweetie pie. That means the world to me."

I still felt horrible. So, probably against my better judgment, I decided to tell her about what had been happening. Maybe not all of it, but at least some of it.

"Mom? Can I tell you something?" I ventured quickly. She looked at me in surprise. "Yes, of course you can. You can tell me anything."

I took a moment to collect my thoughts. I didn't want to tell her too much. I took a deep breath and said "Okay. So, you weren't totally wrong about me being in some trouble. No, please don't say anything." I said quickly as she opened her mouth. "I just need to get this off my chest."

"So, you met some of my friends at the festival on Friday. Do you remember them? There's Pence, Hayner, Namine, and Ro—Roxas." I cleared my throat, my voice catching on the last word. "Roxas is the one who, um, you know. . . Anyway, I have two other friends. They're involved with some pretty awful people. You haven't met them yet, and I want you to know that they mean everything to me. For now, let's call them Sam and, uh, Ricky." I had a hard time picturing anyone calling Riku Ricky to his face.

"Sam and Ricky's friends—or, I guess family, sort of—are the ones who attacked that one girl at school. But they aren't like that, not at all. They were best friends with Roxas while he was . . . while he was. . . ." I was at a loss. I still couldn't think about him without wanting to curl into a ball and cry my eyes out.

"While he was part of their group. And after the other people that they know hurt that one girl, he stopped being friends with them. He basically quit. And I guess he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time on Sunday, because right now he's dead in the hospital." I had to stop. I wasn't going to let myself cry anymore.

My mom was staring at me strangely. I didn't know why, but that made me agitated for some reason. "What? What are you staring at?" I snapped.

My mom closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She slowly fixed me with her sad, weary eyes, and I instantly felt guilty. "I'm not staring at you, sugar. I'm just trying to understand what you've been going through. Before you continue, I just have one question. How did you really get those bruises on Friday?"

I felt my stomach lurch. I hadn't expected that. "What?"

"How did you really get those bruises?"

I avoided looking at her. I glanced around the room, wishing that my life was simpler than this. "I can't tell you that. I'm sorry." I said slowly. At least I didn't lie.

She rubbed her temples with her fingertips. "Okay. Then I won't make you tell me. Please, go on." I still avoided her gaze. I felt sad and tired and sick, and I was about ready to just give up on all of this. I desperately wanted everything to go away, but sadly, this was my life now. And I had to deal with it.

"That's all I wanted to say. And I want you to not worry about me so much. I've got friends that'll protect me. Okay?"

She looked like she wanted to say something, but she changed her mind. She gave me a small smile and said "Thank you for trying to include me in your life. If you ever need help, I'll be here. Are you sure you don't want to talk about your friend Roxas?" The mention of his name was hard for me to handle. I managed to shake my head.

She stood up and walked around the table to give me a hug. I let her hold me for a few minutes, and then I gently disentangled myself from her arms. I flashed a brief smile and summoned the strength to stand up. "Thanks, Mom. I feel better now." Not entirely true, but I felt less guilty, which was a good thing.

She smiled at me and stood back. "All right, then. Would it be all right with you if I went to work for a while? I promise I'll come home early." I glanced up at her and nodded. "Yeah, that's all right with me."

She hugged me again briefly and said "Thank you. I promise I'll be back by five. Okay?" I nodded. "Okay."

I sat at the table while she rushed around the house, getting ready to go to work. As she was leaving, she called out "I love you, honey bunch." I responded "I love you too, Mom." This was nice. We don't usually get too deep into stuff, so this was a bit different.

I listened as her car pulled out of the driveway. After she was gone, I allowed myself to think clearly about the recent events. It hurt like hell, but I was able to do it in silence, which helped a little bit.

I had a lot of thinking to do.

* * *

When Sora finally opened his eyes, the muted light streaming through the windows almost blinded him. He groaned and shut his eyes tightly. He had a splitting headache, and he felt nauseous. He tried to roll onto his side, but moving even a little bit brought a surprising amount of pain.

He lay still for a few seconds and gathered enough courage to try sitting up straight. He succeeded, but the whole room was set spinning. He fought down the urge to throw up and held his head tightly with his hands, hoping that the pain would stop soon, but knowing it wouldn't.

Suddenly, footsteps as loud as thunderclaps came down the hallway. Riku appeared, looking haggard and exhausted. "Hey, glad to see you're up." He said in a normal tone of voice. To Sora, it sounded like he was yelling at him. He winced and held his head even tighter.

"Hey, could you keep it down? Jesus, I feel like crap." He muttered hoarsely. His mouth felt as dry as cotton.

Riku shook his head at him disapprovingly. "Man, what were you thinking? I cleaned up at least twenty of those beer cans this morning. When I came in, you were so wasted that I almost didn't recognize you. Axel and the others thought it was hilarious, the dumb bastards. You could have gotten alcohol poisoning or something, drinking that much." Riku looked at him speculatively, his disappointment evident. "Man, I thought you quit that stuff. What happened?"

Sora looked down at the floor, absolutely hating himself. "I needed to forget." He muttered numbly. "I couldn't handle it all. I _needed _an escape." Riku stared at him, not knowing what to say.

"So, you know then, huh?" he said quietly. Sora nodded, and instantly wished he hadn't. Pain spiked behind his eyes, and his brain felt like it had been rattled. He looked over at Riku and grimaced. "How did you find out? Who told you?" he asked slowly. Riku shifted form one foot to the other. "Kairi told me when I picked her up from the hospital. She and her other friends were there with Roxas."

Sora closed his eyes and sighed. So it hadn't been just a nightmare. Roxas really _was_ dead, and it was his fault. Again. A wave of nausea mixed with extreme guilt passed over him, and it was all he could to not to vomit.

Riku noticed that Sora had suddenly gone very pale. "Hey, take it easy for a while, okay? You're probably going to be hung over for a _looong_ time."

Sora shook his head slowly. "It's all my fault," he said quietly. "It's all my fault."

Riku caught on. "No, it's not. How was this in any way your fault? It's not like you were the one that shot him." He sat down next to his friend. "It was just a terrible coincidence, that's all it is. His death is not your doing. Okay?" Sora groaned and flopped back onto the couch.

"I was the reason he was here in the first place. He was mad at me for being near Kairi." he said brokenly. "We were outside, and we were fighting with each other. I tripped and fell behind that old pile of bricks in the bushes. He was standing up when the people in the car started shooting. If I hadn't tripped, then I. . . ."

Riku cut him off. "What could you have done? Huh? If you hadn't tripped, you would probably be dead. And I . . . I don't think I could have handled losing two of my friends at once." Riku stared into space, realizing that what he said was absolutely true. If the both of them had been killed, he would have lost everything.

Sora understood what Riku was saying. If it hurt this much losing one best friend, then it would probably be enough to make someone want to jump off a roof if they lost two. Sora passed a hand through his hair and sighed. He glanced over at Riku. "Look, I'm sorry, man. Let's just get through today, okay?"

Riku nodded vaguely at him. Suddenly, there were tramping footsteps coming down the hallway. To Sora, it felt like someone was beating on a drum inside his head.

The owner of said loud feet rounded the corner and stopped. Axel looked at the two of them and laughed. "Well, looks who decided to join the living!" he crowed. Sora's ears rang, and the pain in his head sharpened alarmingly. He covered his ears and muttered some colorful things about Axel under his breath.

Axel vaulted over the back of the sofa and landed next to Sora, which caused his head to bounce around a bit. Sora was beginning to remember one of the reasons he had quit drinking.

Riku glared at Axel. "Careful, Axel. Sora's hung over. Take it easy around him, okay?" Axel grinned devilishly and slapped Sora on the back, which was intended to be congratulatory, but all it did was make Sora hate Axel a little bit more.

Axel laughed at Sora's expression. "Hah, finally! We were wondering when you were going to snap out of it. You just weren't as much fun as you used to be." Sora gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Oh, you mean when I could actually tell my ass from my face because I wasn't stoned all the time? Yeah, I know that's still a big problem for you sometimes." Riku snorted and made poor attempts to cover his laughter.

Axel's green eyes flashed. Then he smirked, which threw Sora off a bit. He would usually punch someone in the mouth if they talked to him like that.

Axel folded his arms and sat back. "Huh. You know, I think your little girlfriend shares that opinion. At least, she did when I went for a little visit. She has a very nice house, by the way. And her mother is so hospitable! Invited me right in." He grinned at the shocked expressions on their faces.

"Yeah, it was classy over there. Not like anything we could possibly offer here. No wonder you're so attached to her—you like the way the other side lives. But hey," he said lightly, holding up his hands, "if you like the anger-management type, then she's the one for you. Oh, and I very generously returned her _bike_. The address is written on the side. Did you catch that? It makes everything so much easier when there's a return address."

He leaned forward, clearly enjoying himself. "So," he said casually, "you get in her pants yet?"

Riku sprang to his feet, growling like a dog. 'Watch it. You don't talk about her like that." Axel glanced up at him and chuckled. He looked back at Sora and pointed his finger at Riku. "Whoa, there. Looks like you have some competition. I wonder who she'll go for?" He laughed at them and stood up, stretching out his long arms. "Well, I think I'll just leave you two to discuss it. I've got better things to do." And with that, he walked out of the room, leaving an electrified silence behind him.

Sora closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He seriously doubted that anything else could go wrong today.

* * *

That night, before I went to bed, I did something that I had never done before in my life. I got down on my knees in front of my bed and started to pray.

"God, I mean, if there is a god, and you can hear me, I need your help. One of my good friends died yesterday, and I'm scared. I don't know what's going to happen now. My other friend was his girlfriend, and she loved him so much. I want you to help her get through this. I don't know if she'll be able to get over it—see, he was the one who helped her get over the other bad stuff in her life. And we're talking some major crap here.

"If you really can help, I want you to help all of my friends. Hayner, Pence, Olette, Namine, Riku and Sora. Please. If you can, it would mean everything to me. Thanks."

I slowly got up and switched off the light. I would need all the rest I could get – I wasn't going to get any tomorrow.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Hey guys, short chapter**. **Pleases don't kill me for killing Roxas! **

**I was very sad when I wrote that. T.T**

**Anyways, review please!**


	14. Chapter 14

The alarm went off early the next morning. I had told my mom that I would go to school that day. When she became concerned and asked if that was a good choice, I hurriedly told her that I was fine. Wouldn't it be nice if that was true?

I didn't bother taking a shower. I blearily made my way downstairs, ate my breakfast without tasting it, and hugged my mom goodbye before I left for school.

I made it there before I knew it. As I walked through the doors to the main building, I felt people staring. I caught snatches of students' conversations as I made my way to my locker.

"Hey, isn't that girl friends with the kid that got shot?"

"I feel so bad for his girlfriend. I hear she's pretty messed up about it."

"I heard that he was involved in a lot of gang stuff."

"That poor kid. I can't imagine what she must be going through.'

"He was a part of that Organization gang. Did you hear what they did to his girlfriend?"

I tried to block it out. I didn't want to hear any more about it than I already had. The more I tried to ignore the whispering and the covert glances, the more they became noticeable. I was almost running by the time I got to my locker. But I couldn't even escape it there. There were several cards taped to the front of my locker, most of them expressing consolations and telling me how sorry people were about my loss.

One caught my eye. It wasn't a card; it was a piece of paper with a note scrawled across it in bright red sharpie. I pulled the note off of my locker to read it. It said "I don't care what everyone else says, he was a part of the Organization and he deserved to die."

I suddenly felt cold all over. I numbly crumpled the paper into a ball in my fist and threw it away. How could anyone say that? If they had taken the time to get to know him at all, they would have been able to see what a great guy he had been.

The bell rang loudly, and I headed off to class.

* * *

English went by in a blur. I sat down next to Hayner, and everyone behind us stared and whispered, while everyone in front of us deliberately didn't turn around to look at us. The rest of my morning was almost exactly the same. All the whispers and stares from students that I had known ever since I got here were bad enough, but even the teachers that I had would glance at me and quickly look away.

Lunch finally came around. I practically ran out of class to get to the cafeteria, hoping to avoid most of the crowd.

I slowed down as I neared the cafeteria. I walked through the doors and picked out our table amidst the chaos. I carefully made my way across the large room, feeling hundreds of eyes on me. I felt my face burning. Why couldn't they all just leave me alone?

I reached the table. My friends looked up at me and halfheartedly waved. Namine, to my surprise, was actually there with them. As I sat down, I felt my gaze being involuntarily drawn to the only empty seat at the table. Roxas's seat.

I felt tears beginning to prick the corners of my eyes, and I quickly hid my face behind my hair before anyone could see. When I had calmed enough to look up, I studied my friends as they picked at their food. Olette twirled her fork around in her salad, not really eating it. Hayner was gruffly trying to eat his sandwich, and trying to hide the pain he was feeling at the same time. Pence had tried, but he had given up on eating all together and had pushed his lunch bag away. He was looking sadly at Roxas's empty seat, his face reflecting what we were all feeling inside.

Namine hadn't even tried to eat. She hadn't touched her food or her water bottle. She just sat there, staring into space. It was like she was an empty shell; there was nothing behind her eyes as she stared at someone who was no longer there.

Suddenly, the intercom system came on. At first there was a little static, and then the principal came on. What was going on? The principal only did the announcements in the morning. His voice sounded mechanical as he spoke over the intercom.

"_Students, as some of you may know, a death has occurred at Twilight Town High."_ The whole cafeteria went absolutely silent. _"I am very sorry to report that Roxas Frey is no longer with us. He passed away on Sunday night, in the Twilight Town Hospital. He was killed by three gunshot wounds from a drive-by shooting. Our hearts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time. If you happen to see his friends in the halls, you may express your deepest consolations, but please do not ask any questions. They are exercising great courage and strength if they are here today. Students, take this as a warning about the dangers of gang activity. Stay safe, and have a good day."_

By now, every eye in the cafeteria was fixed on our table. Even the few teachers that were there were looking at us. No one made a sound. The five of us stared down at the table, not daring to look up.

Slowly, very slowly, the other students looked away and began whispering about us. People still glanced back at us every few seconds, as if they were making sure we were still there. What did they expect us to do? And why the _hell_ would they announce it like that? I was so furious and confused that I just wanted to beat someone up. I wanted to overturn tables and throw things at people. But I knew that it wouldn't fix anything. It would just make it worse.

I noticed movement to my left. When I looked to see what it was, I saw Olette put her arms up on the table and bury her head in them. She was trembling, and she was really pale. Hayner put one arm around her, on the verge of tears himself. Pence looked over at them and hung his head sadly. Namine had red rims around her eyes, making her look like a small child. She pulled her knees up to her chest and let her forehead rest against them. I knew I had tears in my eyes, and I wasn't happy about it.

Two girls came walking up to us. I recognized them as Aerith and Tifa, two of the seniors we had met at the basketball game. Aerith was carrying a large envelope, and Tifa had a list of names in her hand.

Aerith walked up to us and looked at all of us pityingly. "Hey, guys." She said quietly. "How are you doing?" She meant it sincerely, but it was still a stupid question to ask. I almost laughed at her. "How do we look like we're doing?" I asked sarcastically. I knew I was being mean, but I was beyond caring. I stared at her, waiting for her to say something.

She wasn't fazed by my hostility. She just sighed and put one hand on the empty chair, _Roxas's_ chair, and said "May I sit down?"

To everyone's surprise, Namine looked up sharply and said "You can't sit there." Aerith blinked a couple of times, and then seemed to understand. She withdrew her hand from the chair. "I'm sorry. That was a stupid question." She raised one corner of her mouth, trying to smile at us.

"Anyway, we were told that Roxas's parents couldn't afford to pay for the funeral. So, we went around and collected some money for you guys." She handed me the envelope. She gestured to Tifa to come forward. "And this is a list of the names of the people who donated. I hope that it's enough." Tifa gave the list to Hayner. He immediately glanced down at it and began to read the names.

I opened the envelope and looked inside. There was at least two thousand dollars in it. I was totally overwhelmed. I looked up at the two of them and said "Thank you. Thank you so much."

Tifa smiled kindly and said "It was the least we could do. I mean, it wouldn't be right to leave you guys hanging like that." Something occurred to me. I looked at Tifa and asked "Wait, I'm sorry, but who told you his parents couldn't afford the funeral?" Roxas didn't really have parents.

Tifa shrugged and looked at Aerith. Aerith glanced around the table, looking guilty for some reason. "Um, actually, Riku did. He told us it would be a huge favor to him if we raised some money and gave it to you guys." I immediately connected something in my mind. So it would have been these two he would have borrowed money from. I had been worried that he would steal it.

Hayner suddenly looked up at the two of them in surprise. Then he quickly glanced back down at the list of names again. "Guys, look at the people who donated money." Curious, I stood up and walked around the table to read over his shoulder. Olette, Pence and Namine did the same.

The list read: Cloud Strife, Zack Fair, Yuffie Kisaragi, Aerith Gainsborough, Tifa Lockhart, Squal Leonhart, Sora Kingsley, Riku Adler, Demyx Tessmer, and a bunch of other people I didn't know. There were about a hundred names on the list, and about three fourths of the way down, one name in particular stood out: Axel O'Hanlon.

I froze. _Axel_? As in, the rapist, pyro, violent and crazy Axel O'Hanlon?

The four of us looked at each other, completely shocked. I glanced at Namine. Her eyes were glued to the paper, to Axel's signature. She was expressionless, but her hands were shaking. I took the list from Hayner and folded it quickly. I looked at Aerith, suddenly angry at her. I held the list in front of her face and pointed to Axel's signature. "Is this a joke?" I demanded furiously.

She looked stricken. "I'm sorry; we didn't ask him to give any money. He came to us and just handed us fifty bucks. I know that he's done some terrible stuff to you guys," she said quickly, glancing at Namine in particular, "but I thought that you could use every penny. So we allowed him to donate."

I saw red. I was absolutely furious. Was he just trying to screw with our minds, or what? I dimly remembered that I was still in school, and I had people staring at me, so it wouldn't be wise to make a scene. I forced myself to calm down. I took a deep breath and looked at Aerith. "Thank you. I'm sorry I got upset; it was very nice of you to do this for us." I said evenly.

She looked a little relieved. She looked down at her hands and then back at the five of us. "I'm really sorry, you guys. Roxas was a good person. I hope he rests in peace." She smiled sadly at us and left with Tifa. I watched them leave, unable to form a clear thought.

Some kids at the next table were looking at us. I made a face at them, and they turned back to their table, speaking in undertones about the money for the funeral. I glared at everyone who tried to stare at us. It worked for a while, but they figured that I wasn't going to do anything to them, so they all looked back eventually.

I sat back down in my seat, feeling confused. I wasn't sure if I should be grateful, sad, or angry. I think it was a mix of all three. My friends looked the same. Only Namine was totally unemotional. She sat staring at Roxas's empty seat, as if by looking hard enough, she could make him reappear.

* * *

It was about two in the afternoon. Riku and Sora had stayed home from school –they hadn't been able to sleep at all the previous night—and they were sitting on the couch in the hangout. Most of the other members were also staying in the hangout – they had heard about Roxas's death, and everyone had decided to lay low for a while.

Riku had the remote and was flipping the channels. Sora was lying on the other end of the couch, drinking a glass of water. His head still ached if he shook it too hard.

Riku sighed and turned off the T.V. He tossed aside the remote and rubbed at his eyes. "Man, I'm still tired." He murmured. Sora passed a hand through his hair and grunted. "Yeah, you're not the only one."

They sat in silence for a few moments. Suddenly, muffled shouting could be heard from one of the bedrooms. Riku and Sora looked at each other and strained their ears, trying to hear what was going on. Two people were arguing loudly, and one of them was definitely Larxene, since she was the only girl in the Organization.

The yelling suddenly escalated. There was a muffled thump as someone threw something at the wall. Larxene had started crying and had stopped screaming at the other person. The other person began shouting furiously at her, and she replied with insults that could be understood even through the walls. They both started yelling at each other again. Larxene was screeching and sobbing, and it seemed to make the other person even angrier at her.

Suddenly Demyx, the kid with an unfortunate mullet haircut, came running down the hallway. He stopped in front of Sora and Riku, evidently a little freaked out and amused at the same time.

"Guys, you're never gonna believe this." Sora and Riku glanced at each other and looked back at Demyx. Riku raised an eyebrow and said "Oh? And what's that?" Demyx snickered a little and said "Axel got Larxene pregnant! And he's _pissed_. You should hear what they're saying to each other! It's totally insane. They're throwing stuff at each other, too." Even as he finished his sentence, they could all hear something shatter against the wall.

Riku looked at Sora, and then back at Demyx. "Larxene is preggers? God, that's a total nightmare. I just can't see her being an awesome mom, can you?" Demyx started cracking up and shook his head. "My thoughts exactly. She's scary enough as it is; we don't need her going through all those mood swings."

Sora was unsure if this was hilarious or just sad all around. What were they gonna do? The Organization couldn't take care of a baby. They couldn't even take care of each other.

Demyx was just starting to elaborate on the details of their fight when the bedroom door crashed open and Axel stormed out. Larxene could be heard sobbing in the background. He turned the corner and saw the three of them looking at him. "What are you looking at?" he growled menacingly. The three of them shrugged and turned away. None of them were stupid; they knew better than to mess with Axel when he was like this.

Axel pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Sora was glad they didn't have smoke detectors anymore, or they would have the fire department at their doorstep every five minutes of the day.

Demyx shifted uncomfortably—Axel made him nervous. "Well, I think I'm gonna go. See you guys later." And with that, he ran out the front door like the house was actually on fire. Sora couldn't help grinning at his cowardice. Demyx had never been much of a fighter; he had joined the Organization because they were the strongest gang in town, and that came with protection.

Riku caught the grin and shook his head in warning. The warning was too late. Axel saw Sora's grin and exploded. "What the hell are you smiling at, punk?" He jumped to his feet, enraged. "Is something _funny_? I must have missed the joke." He took two threatening steps toward Sora. Riku jumped up and said "Easy. No one was trying to insult you, okay? Chill out, man."

Axel's eyes hardened. "Are you trying to tell me what to do? Huh? That's rich, coming from you. You didn't try telling me what to do when I beat the crap out of that bitch you like so much." Riku's eyes narrowed to slits. "I thought I told you not to talk about her like that." His voice was deceptively quiet.

Sora knew what was coming. He jumped up off the couch and pulled Riku back before he could punch Axel in the face. Axel laughed at them. "Pathetic. Hey, it seems like Sora doesn't have a problem with me talking about her like that." He grinned maliciously and took a drag on his cigarette. He blew the smoke into Riku's face.

Sora almost had to tackle Riku to keep him from whaling on Axel. "Not the right time or place," he muttered to his friend. "It's not worth it. The others would help him, not us."

Riku shook him off and glared at Axel. Axel studied him coldly. "You know, you should be thanking me. I donated fifty bucks to that little charity of yours. You owe me one." he said seriously. Riku was shocked. "What? Why would you do that?" Axel sighed and shook his head. "Man, you can really be dense sometimes. Did you think you were the only two who were friends with Roxas while he was here? Seriously. Everyone handed over money, and I gave it to those hot chicks you got to collect the money."

Axel laughed suddenly. "Hah, now that guy used to have a good time. He really knew how to party. Too bad that little blond piece of ass came along. He got so upset over that." He shrugged indifferently. "Oh, well. He's probably better off wherever he is now." He took another drag on his cigarette. Larxene was crying quietly in the bedroom. Axel lost his patience and shouted "Would you just shut up already! Jesus, can't anyone in this place learn how to shut their mouth?"

He shook his head in irritation. "I gotta get out of here for a while. I'm going to get some beers. Later." He spun on his heel and strode out the door, like he didn't have a care in the world.

Riku and Sora stared at the door as it swung closed. Sora looked at Riku. "You know, I really hate that guy." Riku snorted. "Yeah, you're not alone on that one." Sora sat down on the floor, feeling exhausted. Riku joined him. Suddenly, a small vase was thrown out the bedroom door and across the hallway, shattering when it collided with the wall. Sora looked at Riku. "Do you think we should check on her?"

Riku considered it for a moment. Something else met an untimely end when it was thrown into the wall behind them. Riku shook his head. "Nah. I think we should let her get her anger out on inanimate objects first.' Sora nodded his head quickly. "Agreed."

* * *

The rest of my day rushed past me. I barely listened to a word anyone said in my classes, and I tried my best to tune out the snippets of conversation that I heard as I made my way to my locker at the end of the day. Moe notes had been taped to my locker. All of them were attempts to tell me how sorry everyone was.

I didn't bother taking any of them off. I wouldn't read them anyway. I grabbed my books and hurriedly made my way outside. It was a bright and sunny day outside – I felt like the universe was mocking my grief. I hated it.

I didn't really see the ground passing under my feet. I just moved through space, not really paying attention to anything around me. I was so unfocused that I didn't even look up as I was crossing one street. A car screeched to a halt and honked at me. I jumped, just realizing that I had almost been road kill. I looked at the car to wave an apology, but then I saw which car it was, and who was driving it.

Axel was sitting in his red Mustang, a smirk firmly planted on his face.

I quickly looked down and walked briskly across the street, pretending that I hadn't seen him. Unfortunately, he had seen me. "Hey, princess. Where you heading? Huh? You need a ride?" He taunted. I just kept walking. I heard his car start up. He followed me up the street, making catcalls the entire way.

When I reached the end of the street, he pulled his car up quickly and opened the doors. Panicking, I turned and ran back the other way. I was a pretty fast runner, considering I had been a first place track runner at my old school. It was a good thing, too. Axel was also extremely fast, and I was only outdistancing him because of my head start. Why was he chasing me? I had no idea. All I knew was I needed help, and fast. I ran up to the front of the first house I could reach, Axel close behind me. I leaped up the front steps and rang the doorbell repeatedly.

I felt the panic rising. I suddenly heard him behind me. I whirled around to look at him. He was on the bottom step, his predator's eyes glittering dangerously. He grinned and said "Aww, I'm not gonna hurt you." He laughed at my expression. I knew that he fully intended to hurt me, and I backed up against the front door of the house. He slowly advanced towards me, and he was only an arm length away when he stopped again. I honestly thought my heart was going to beat right out of my chest.

But, right before he grabbed me, the front door of the house opened. It knocked me to the side, but Axel was still left standing. I saw the barrel of a shotgun sticking out of the house, pointed right at Axel. A little old woman walked out of the house, causing him to back hastily down the stairs. Even Axel knew that you don't mess with a lady holding a shotgun.

"Are you all right, sweetheart?' she asked me in a kindly voice. She kept her shotgun pointed at Axel's chest the whole time. I stared in disbelief. 'Uh, y-yeah, I'm okay." I stuttered.

She chuckled in her little old lady way. "Oh, good. I was so worried when I looked through my window to see what the commotion was. You looked so scared. And this big brute over here.' she said sternly, poking him in the chest with the shotgun, "seemed like trouble. So I just went and got my gun before I opened the door." She sighed and looked at me carefully.

"Say, you were the one who those two young men were putting in their truck the other day! They were so rude. I can't understand why you keep company with such ill-mannered boys, young lady." I just stared at her. This was the same little old woman who beat up Sora with her walking stick? What were the odds of that?

She looked back at Axel, who looked like he couldn't believe he was being held at bay by a tiny old lady with a gun. 'Young man, I'd suggest you leave." she said crisply. "I don't want any riffraff on my porch, if you don't mind." He glared one last time at me before cautiously backing down the stairs and running to his car.

The woman gave a satisfied "Humph." and turned to me. "Young lady, what is your name?" she practically barked at me. I automatically stood up straighter and said "K-Kairi Avery, ma'am." She lowered her gun at last and said "Oh, what a pretty name." I was at a loss for words. "Um, thank you." I said slowly.

She smiled at me. "Sweetheart, do you need a ride home? There are dangerous people that live around here. It would be no trouble." I shook my head quickly. "No, no thank you. I appreciate the offer, but I live only a few minutes' walk from here." I smiled gratefully at her. "Thank you for helping me." She waved one hand. "Oh, tish-tosh. I couldn't just leave a young girl like you in trouble like that. Now, you better get home. Go on, off you go!"

I thanked her again and set off once more, making sure that I hid my face with the hood of my sweatshirt every time a car drove by.

I finally got home, feeling a thousand years old. I spent the rest of the afternoon doing homework and studying, not wanting to give my mind any time to wander. My mom noticed I was preoccupied at dinner.

"Sunshine, are you all right?" she asked. "You've barely touched your food. I even made your favorite." I looked up and tried to smile reassuringly. "Yeah, I'm okay. I was just thinking about lunch today. Some kids raised money to pay for Roxas's funeral." My mom didn't ask any more questions after that.

When I went to bed that night, I wondered why everything in my life seemed to be going to hell in a hand basket. I mean, nothing was going right for me.

I sighed and stared into the darkness. _Well, at least my friend's funeral is taken care of,_ I thought. Then I realized that if that was the only good thing I could think of, then my life was pretty sad. I closed my eyes and prayed for sleep to come, knowing that it wouldn't.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Hey everyone. It didn't take me long to finish this chapter, so here it is!**

**I hate Axel so much. I need to pot out his demise.**

**Anyway, thanks to all of you who reviewed! The reviews are what keep me writing!**

**Review, please!**


	15. Chapter 15

Wednesday and Thursday blurred together miserably. No one at school would leave us alone; they all wanted to apologize and give us their condolences. Most of what I could remember from those two days were the stares and whispers, and Roxas's empty seat.

I had found Olette crying in the bathroom twice. Hayner had gotten into three fights in the same day because some kids kept telling him that Roxas was Organization trash, and that he gotten what was coming to him. Pence didn't really talk much, but I could tell he was hurting. Namine was a mess. Her hair was tangled, she didn't sleep, she didn't eat, she was falling behind on her work, and she was just mentally not there. I knew that I wasn't all there either.

I had also received an email from Riku. It told me how Roxas had died, and why he was at the hangout in the first place. If there was ever a time that I truly hated myself and my bad luck, it was then. If it weren't for me, he would still be alive.

Friday came. I almost didn't get up. I wanted to just lie in bed all day and sleep. But I knew that I had to be there for my friends. I knew that I had to be there for Roxas.

My mom very gently woke me up, and told me I should probably take a shower. I did as she suggested, letting the hot water run over my head and down my arms. It helped me to relax a bit. I finished up in the bathroom and went downstairs to the kitchen. My mom was there, making me breakfast. I could smell the French toast all the way down the hall.

I quietly sat down and drank some orange juice. "Hey, Mom? I don't really feel like eating. I'm sorry." She set down a plate in front of me anyway and rubbed my shoulders. "Honey, I know you might not want to eat now, but trust me, you'll feel better later if you do." She smiled at me and nudged the plate closer. "Eat."

I obliged her. I forced myself to swallow a few mouthfuls, and then pushed the plate aside. I stood up and cleared away my place at the table, trying to make less work for my mom. I put everything away and asked her if she could give me a ride to school.

She smiled sympathetically at me and said "Of course I can give you a ride, sweetie pie. It's no problem." I hugged her gratefully and finished packing up my school stuff.

We hopped into her car and reached school in record time. I sat in the passenger seat, not wanting to get out of the car. My mom looked over at me and laid her hand over mine. "It'll be okay, sweetie. Everything's gonna be fine." She smiled at me as tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. I quickly looked away and said "I'll see you later, Mom." With that, I climbed out of the car and slammed the door shut.

I felt terrible about the way I had just treated her, but that was the one pep talk that I just couldn't handle. I walked through the doors, noting how the clouds were gray and the sun was hidden. There was a damp chill in the air. _What a perfect day for a funeral, _I thought bitterly.

* * *

Sora and Riku made the effort to go to school that day. They had skipped classes altogether that week, and the teachers had actually started calling to make sure everything was all right. Sora had almost screamed at them that nothing was all right, and that they were stupid morons for asking, but he somehow managed to say that they would be at school on Friday.

Riku stared out the windshield of his dark blue truck. Sora looked out the window at the road passing by below them. Neither said a word until they entered the school parking lot. As Riku pulled into the closest available parking space, he glanced over at Sora and sighed. "So, are we going to this thing today?"

Sora nodded vaguely, not entirely ready to accept the fact that they were going to be burying his best friend. Riku studied him closely. "Are you sure? We don't have to go, if it'll be a problem for you." Sora slowly turned his head and looked at him. "I'm fine. Really, it's okay."

Riku still looked doubtful, but Sora pushed open the door and stepped out into the cool morning air, not leaving any room for argument.

* * *

Everyone knew about the funeral, no surprise there. When I sat down next to Hayner in English, the teacher walked around and called out the attendance. Then, to my utter horror, he stopped and stood in front of Hayner and me. "I'm so sorry, you two. May God help you through these difficult times."

I stared in disbelief. God? He was seriously telling us that God would help us? I almost laughed in his face. I had already tried getting God to help, and nothing had happened. I smiled sardonically and shook my head. There was no God in Twilight Town.

The lesson resumed. The teacher looked at us from time to time, and eventually forgot about it.

The rest of the morning was the same. Every teacher seemed to think I wanted to be singled out as the girl who was friends with the dead kid. In math, I couldn't take it anymore. I asked to go to the bathroom and ran out of the class. I stumbled through the bathroom door and stood in front of the sink.

When I looked in the mirror, I could barely even recognize myself. I had deep circles under my eyes, I was pale and I looked like I was about to be sick. I looked away from my reflection and forced myself to take deep breaths. Then I splashed some water on my face and straightened up. I put on a brave face and, recognizing a bit of myself at last, I went back to class, hoping I could take it on.

After that, I struggled my way to lunch, knowing the terrible emptiness that would await my friends and me. We had briefly considered moving tables, but none of us had the heart to do it. We couldn't just abandon the memories we had created there.

I took up my usual seat, avoiding looking at the vacant chair. The others were holding out reasonably well, including Namine. It was a quiet, uneventful lunch, kinda like the calm before a storm. I guess we were trying to make the sane, rational time we had together last as long as we could before the funeral.

After I left lunch, I stopped paying attention in class. When the bell rang, I would change classes. When anyone called my name, I would snap out of it just long enough to figure out what they wanted. It wasn't painful this way. I just kept my mind completely devoid of all thought, letting my body go on autopilot.

I almost didn't want school to end. The final bell rang all too soon for me. I took my time going to my locker, knowing what I was going to do after I left school. I slowly got all of my things, taking much more time than was necessary, and closed my locker. The other students around me seemed to be going much faster than was humanly possible; although, that could have just been my take on things.

I can't remember the walk home, only that it was the same as always. I thought I had seen a dark blue truck pass me by, but it was probably just my imagination.

When I finally got to my house, my mom was already dressed in her conservative black dress and pearl earrings. She gave me a huge hug as I walked in, not saying anything, but still getting the message across. I hugged her tightly and said "I love you too, Mom."

I dumped my bag on the floor and went to my room. I knew that there was no avoiding it, so I might as well get dressed already. I went to my closet on the left side of the room and opened the doors. I quickly pulled out a nice black dress with a matching sweater and got my black ballet flats out of the pile of clothing on the bottom of the closet. I changed hurriedly, not wanting to think too hard about why I was putting on these clothes that I never wore.

I sat on my bed for a long time, thinking about what I was supposed to say at the funeral. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that if I didn't stop thinking about it, I would throw myself out of a window. So I played with the edge of the black ribbon that was tied around my waist and waited for my mom to tell me it was time to go.

* * *

Sora was tearing stuff out of the closet in his room at the hangout. He didn't own anything black. When he pointed this out to Riku, Riku rubbed the back of his head and said "Well, you could always borrow one of my shirts or something."

It turned out that Sora was far too slight for anything of Riku's to fit him. Riku sat there for a moment, thinking, when an idea popped into his head. He told Sora to wait for a few minutes, and then he returned with a black sports jacket and pants. He handed them to Sora.

"You know," he said, smiling sadly, "you two were the exact same size. I figured something of his would fit you. We still had a bunch of his stuff from when he left the Organization. I don't think Roxas would have minded if you wore it today." He looked away, trying not to notice how much Sora looked like their deceased friend.

Sora saw that Riku was right; the suit fit him perfectly. It was like it was designed for him – or for Roxas. He looked at himself in the mirror and couldn't help but picture Roxas wearing these clothes. He shook his head and murmured "Man, I wish I didn't have to wear my friend's clothes to his funeral."

Riku ran one hand through his hair, trying to stay emotionally detached. "Yeah. You and me both."

They left for the funeral home shortly after.

* * *

As we were driving to the funeral home, I stared out the window at the dismal gray clouds overhead. I could tell my mom wanted to say something, but she couldn't seem to find the right words. That was all right with me. I could stand a few minutes of silence.

When we pulled up to the home, my mom found a parking space and said "Sugar, I want you to know, I'll be right there for you the whole time. Just do your best. I'm sure Rucksack would have just been happy that you showed up."

I closed my eyes for a moment, her words sinking in. In a small voice, I managed "It was Roxas, Mom. Not rucksack." She shook her head apologetically. "I'm sorry, honey bunch. That's what I meant." I nodded silently.

"I knew what you meant." I raised one corner of my mouth. "Thanks, Mom." She smiled at me. "No problem, Kairi."

We got out of the car and walked into the funeral home. Not many people were there. There was Olette's family, Hayner and his family, Pence and his mom, and Namine and her brother and parents. Sora and Riku were there, standing off to the side. To my surprise, Zack, Tifa, and Aerith were there as well.

I walked over to my friends, who were sitting on one of the couches by the doors. Each one of them gave me a hug as I sat down. They were all dressed in black, like me, and they all wore the same expression of grief.

The casket was in the next room. So far, none of them had gone in yet, which would explain why no one was crying. None of us had been brave enough to go in by ourselves. But we knew we would have to face it sometime, so we held on to each other and walked in.

The casket was on the far side of the room. We slowly approached, taking one step at a time, like we were afraid of waking him or something. The other mourners saw us come in and respectfully left the room, leaving us alone. Everything was totally silent as we stopped in front of him. Before this point, I had very carefully avoided looking at his face. I knew that when I did, any hope of keeping my eyes dry would be gone.

I had been right. When I saw his face, I felt the tears begin to flow steadily. As I looked at him, I couldn't help but think how funny it was that one week before today, he had been sitting on top of Sunset Hill with us watching the fireworks.

Namine crumbled completely. She knelt down beside the casket, never taking her eyes off his face, and held one hand over her mouth as if holding back a scream. Olette and Hayner clung to each other and rocked back and forth while they cried. Pence's brown eyes filled with tears, and he slowly sat down next to Namine on the floor, holding his head in his hands.

I could only stand there, hoping my tears would blur Roxas's peaceful face beyond the point of recognition. Namine started to sob into the sleeve of Roxas's jacket, her thin frame shaking so hard I was afraid she might shatter. Olette grabbed my shoulder and pulled me in for a hug. I rested my face against her shoulder, wishing that none of this had ever happened.

Hayner slid down to the floor beside Pence, who had given up on hiding his pain and was crying openly. Olette and I sat down beside them. Olette buried her head in Hayner's shoulder, soaking his shirt with her tears. He leaned his head against hers, his tears running down his face and into her hair.

I scooted over and put my arms around Pence. By now, I was crying so hard that I couldn't see straight. He gripped my arms tightly, trying to take in some strength from my embrace. While I was sitting there, I heard Namine mumble something in between sobs. I listened harder to hear what she had said, and immediately wished I hadn't.

"Why did you leave me, Roxas? Why did you leave me?" she murmured brokenly. I felt a fresh wave of despair sweep over me, and I placed my hands over my ears, not wanting to hear any more.

Namine eventually lost all strength in her limbs and slumped to the floor, sobs wracking her body. I pulled her up next to me and held on to her tightly, afraid that if I let go, she might disappear. She clutched at the sleeve of my dress, much in the same way a toddler would.

The five of us held on to each other like that for a long time, realizing that our time together really couldn't last forever. We would protect each other, more now than ever before.

* * *

About a half an hour later, the rest of the mourners filed back in, including Riku and Sora. I told my friends that I would be back and I made my way over to them on trembling legs.

"Hey, guys. I'm glad you could come." I said quietly. "I know Roxas would have wanted you to."

Sora managed a smile. To my surprise, I saw that he had been crying. Riku had been, too. I immediately hugged the both of them at the same time. They hugged back for a moment, and then disentangled themselves quickly. Riku abruptly turned around and took a few steps away from us. Sora watched him with a look of pity and understanding. He also understood that this was how Riku dealt with grief.

I put my arms around Sora once again. I always felt safe when I was around him, and this was no exception. He ran his fingers through my hair for a few moments, and then he stepped back. I wasn't surprised to see the fresh tears spring up in his eyes. I felt them in mine, too.

He gently pushed me toward my friends. "Go on. They're waiting for you." He smiled reassuringly at me, and I attempted to smile back. I walked back to my friends and took a seat next to them in the rows of folding chairs. Everyone else followed suit.

A priest walked into the room. He blessed us, and thanked us for gathering today.

"We are here today to celebrate the life of a close friend, Roxas Frey. He was a best friend, a beloved boyfriend, an acquaintance, a son, and a student. I'm told that he was very involved with his friends. I have also been told that he enjoyed life, and lived it to the fullest. It is no surprise that he will be missed by all those congregated here. Roxas, may you rest in peace."

The priest looked over the audience, trying to locate the next speaker. Olette stood up shakily; her eyes still red rimmed and damp. The priest smiled welcomingly and allowed her to take his place by Roxas's casket. She had to wait a few seconds before she could find her voice. She looked to me and the others for support, and we nodded encouragingly.

She took a deep breath. "I just want to thank you all for coming. I know that Roxas would have appreciated it." She looked down at the floor. "Roxas was a good person at heart. He didn't like to fight with anyone, and he was usually pretty quiet. If it came down to a fight, though, he would have stood by his friends until the end. I remember he actually punched a kid in the face because he wouldn't leave me alone." Her eyes filled with tears, and she smiled at the memory.

"He was one of the bravest people I ever knew. Even though a lot of people in this town wouldn't give him a chance, he just ignored them and continued to be nice to everyone. He had the courage to keep going." She had to stop. She pressed her lips together and blinked rapidly. Looking at Roxas, she grinned through her tears and said "Roxas, I'll really miss you."

She hastily made her way back to our row of chairs. Hayner gave her a quick hug before standing up and making his way to the front of the room. When he got there, he stopped and looked around at the people in the chairs. He smiled briefly at us and cleared his throat. In a gruff voice, he began.

"I see a lot of familiar faces today. Everyone here was like family to Roxas, at some point or another. And those of you who knew him really well would know that he absolutely hated going to church or anything like that. He would have just about fainted if he knew where he was right now. No offense, padre." He said quickly. The priest shook his head and shrugged, signaling that he didn't mind.

"Yeah, he was a pretty likeable guy. Had a big heart deep down and everything. He, um, liked to skateboard with us. We used to go to the skate park down by Postern Street. We had some great laughs there; we used to make bets on who could pull the best tricks." Hayner cleared his throat and spread his feet apart.

"Yeah. He would usually beat me. That kid made more money betting against me than he ever would have at a job." He smiled sadly to himself. "After school, he would sometimes come down the street to my house and play basketball. He helped me with my three pointers a lot." Hayner was about to say something else, but he quickly rubbed his sleeve over his eyes, muttering about allergies. He took a deep breath, fighting down the oncoming tears. "I'm really going to miss playing basketball with him."

Hayner turned to look at Roxas's still form. The tears had just begun to slide down his face when he said "I'm really gonna miss you, man." He shoved his hands into his pockets and trudged back to his seat. Olette put her arms around him, and told him that he did a great job. He looked at her and wiped the tears away from her eyes. I looked at Pence, who was already on his feet. When he got up to the front, he waved at everyone and started his part of the speech.

"Hey, guys. Thanks again for showing up today." He rocked back and forth on his heels. "Roxas was a very honest person. If he didn't like what you wee doing, he would let you know. That sometimes got him in trouble, but it was usually because he was right and the other person didn't like it. I remember one time at the mall when I was trying to help him get a job, the lady at this one store just sneered at him and asked if he really dressed like a skater punk every day. I thought he was going to whack her in the head, but all he said was 'At least I don't dress up like a rich snob every day. I don't need to show off.' And he just walked away."

Pence stared hard at the ground. "You know, he never did get a job. He tried so hard, but it just wasn't enough. People were either too scared of him or too judgmental about how he looked. They wouldn't even try to get to know him." Pence wiped at his eyes. He looked at the casket and smiled sadly. "Roxas, wherever you are now, I hope you're accepted more there than you were here on earth."

He came back to his seat. By now, we were all crying profusely. I knew it was my turn, and that I had to stand up. I just couldn't seem to get my legs to respond. I finally managed to stand up with help from Olette, who patted my arm and told me it was okay. I gave her a watery smile and made my way to the front. I turned to face the audience, hoping that I would be able to speak properly.

"Not all of you may know me. I'm Kairi Avery, and for the short period of time that I knew Roxas, I was his friend." I swallowed hard. "In the short while that I spent with these guys, I found out what true friends are. A true friend will stand by you, no matter what the difficulties are." I looked at my friends. "They will take care of you, love you, and accept you, no matter what. And for Roxas, all of these things were true. He went through so much hardship, but he still found room to comfort others."

I felt more tears spring up in my eyes. "When I was in trouble, Roxas was the one who really understood what was going on. He tried to help protect me, even though it was from very powerful people. In the end, his fierce loyalty to his friends was what got him killed." I stifled a sob. "I can't even comprehend how much he loved us. I wish I could have had more time to get to know him. I wish that I could have told him how grateful I was for his help, and that he was a truly wonderful friend."

I turned to face the casket. Roxas lay there peacefully, as though he were sleeping. I tried to smile. "Thank you, Roxas." I said quietly. "We won't ever forget you." I felt the tears streaming down my face, and I quickly tried to brush them away. I slowly walked back to my chair, feeling a pit of despair open up inside my chest. I sat down and was greeted with open arms. We all took a moment to calm down, and finally, it was Namine's turn.

I was shocked that she was going to speak. I couldn't imagine what she was going to say; her loss seemed far greater than any of ours did. I held on to Pence and Olette, unsure of whether I wanted to hear this or not.

Namine took her place next to Roxas. She clasped her hands together in front of her, trying to compose herself enough to speak. I felt absolutely awful for her. Her large blue eyes were swimming, and she looked lost and afraid. She took a few deep breaths and swept her gaze over the assembled mourners. Her eyes lingered on us, and for a moment, I felt like she was staring right through us. She took another deep breath and began to speak.

"I first met Roxas in art class in freshman year. I was partnered with him for a photography project, and we got along really well. We started to hang out, and, eventually, he asked me out. No one really wanted me to be near him, but we didn't care. I didn't love him at first, but after some really bad stuff happened to me, he took care of me." Her voice broke, and she had to wait for a while before she could continue. "While he was taking care of me, I really started to love him. He was my whole world. Roxas was kind, smart, generous, sweet--" she hiccupped and sniffled "—strong, and brave."

She started to cry harder. She covered her mouth with one hand and closed her eyes tightly. She stayed like that for a moment, and then looked at us again. "He got me through the most difficult time in my life. He was my s-savior. I know I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for him. I owe him my life, and I know now that I can't ever repay him. He was the b-best person I've ever known, and, like Kairi said, I-I just wish that I had a little more t-time with him."

She was sobbing so hard that I could barely understand her when she walked up beside Roxas's casket and leaned over, her hair brushing over his shoulder. She kissed him on the forehead and, very quietly and tenderly, said "I love you, Roxas. I always will." She straightened up with great difficulty and brushed some of his hair off of his forehead. She turned slowly toward us and very carefully made her way back to her seat.

By the end of her speech, Olette, Pence, Hayner and I were crying so hard that I was amazed any of us could even breathe. We stood up and brought Namine into a group hug. I could hear other mourners behind us sniffling and crying, which shouldn't have surprised me.

I don't know how long we stayed like that. It felt like an eternity before we finally sat down again. The priest said a few words and blessed us all again, and then it was time for the last goodbyes before they took the closed casket outside to bury.

All the people that were there were in one long line that proceeded past Roxas and out into the adjoining room. My friends and I went last; we wanted to be there until the last possible moment. Hayner tried to comfort Olette through his tears, and Pence just turned away. Namine stood there like a statue, looking at his face for as long as she could before she could never see it again.

When they wee done nailing the casket shut, they joined the funeral procession in the other room. Two funeral home assistants, Hayner, Pence, Sora, and Riku were the ones that would carry the casket out to the grave site. Olette, Namine, and I would walk behind them, and everyone else would follow. Two more funeral home attendants were there to hold open the doors and help us in any way they could.

We approached the small plot of land next to an ancient tree. The two assistants helped Sora, Riku, Pence, and Hayner lower the casket into the ground. The priest said a few words, and told us that we may go in peace. The boys and the attendants then began to shovel dirt into the hole in the ground.

That was unimaginably difficult for us to handle. Here we were, just a couple of kids, burying one of our best friends in the entire world. It wasn't fair.

Olette, Namine, and I just held each other and sobbed our hearts out, mourning the loss of a truly amazing human being, while the moon and stars watched over us from above.

* * *

**A/N:**

**I admit I teared up while I was writing this. T.T**

**I promise that it gets better in the next chapter! **

**Review, please!**


	16. Chapter 16

The car ride home was completely silent. Even my mom could understand that I didn't want to talk about anything. After we pulled into my driveway, I jumped out of the car and ran to my room. I wanted to be by myself for a while.

I stayed there for the rest of the night. I browsed the internet for a while, trying to distract myself. At around 10:00, I realized that I was still wearing my funeral clothes and quickly changed into soft pajama bottoms and a tank top. I threw the black dress and sweater down the laundry chute in disgust.

I had finished crying, thankfully. I think I had run out of tears.

I sat on my bed and stared into space for a while. I heard my mom getting ready to go to bed at around 11:00. She stood outside of my door and told me that she loved me, and that she was going to sleep. A few minutes later, I heard her switch off her light. Soft snores could be heard through the walls.

I smiled to myself. At least she would be able to get a good night's sleep. I stretched out on my stomach across my bed and rested my chin in my hands. I knew that sleep would never find me at this rate. I was wide awake, and I felt like I could get up and run a marathon.

I thought of Namine, Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Were they sleeping right now? Or were they still awake, like me, wishing that the day would just end already? I sighed and buried my face in my pillow. Mentally, I was exhausted. But, for some reason, the rest of my body just didn't get the message. I groaned and rolled over onto my side.

I had just started to read one of my books when I heard something that was different from the usual nighttime sounds. I heard what sounded like tree branches snapping.

Curious, I closed my book and set it on my bedside table. I got up and crossed over to the window. I undid the lock quietly, not wanting to wake up my mom. I pushed the window open and peeked outside – and I was so surprised that I almost fell out the window.

"Hey, Kairi." Sora called softly. He was sitting in the branches of the tree outside my window, and it looked like he had been about to let himself in. I stared incredulously at him. "Sora, what are you doing here? It's almost midnight!"

He shrugged, looking sheepish. "I wanted to make sure you were all right. And I figured that ringing the doorbell would have been a bad idea." I blinked a couple of times and glanced over my shoulder, listening for my mother's snores. She usually could sleep through a hurricane, but I wasn't taking any chances. I looked back at Sora and glared at him.

"So you were just going to let yourself in? What if I hadn't been wearing any clothes or something?" I hissed. He looked surprised as he considered this. "Huh. I hadn't thought of that. Well, you _were_ wearing clothes, and I _didn't_ let myself in, so I don't see a problem here." He smiled at me, lighting up our immediate area.

I felt my heart positively melt, but I wasn't about to show it. I grabbed the edge of the window and started to close it. "Well, good night, then." I said briskly. His hand suddenly shot out and held it open. He looked pleadingly at me. "Kairi, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have bothered you this late, but I couldn't stay at the hangout. I. . . I couldn't handle the nightmares I was having. So, I thought, maybe if you were awake, I could stay here for a while?"

I studied his face carefully. He really meant it—he thought that I could help him. I hesitated for a second, and then I pushed the window open all the way. "Okay, fine. But you have to be quiet; my mom is asleep." I stepped back and let him clamber through the window. He didn't make a sound when he closed it behind him. He turned around and smiled gratefully. "Thank you so much. You don't know what this means to me."

I smiled wryly and shook my head. "Don't worry about it. I wasn't able to sleep, anyway." He tilted his head to one side and let out a breath. "Yeah. Long day, huh?" I nodded at him and rubbed at my eyes. "Yeah, 'long day' is one way to describe it." I walked over to my bed and sat down. Sora sat cross-legged on the floor in front of me.

"You know, I actually feel a lot better now. I mean, I'm still sad, but I think I've gotten over the worst of it." I said thoughtfully. Sora looked at the floor. "Yeah. That's what usually happens after a while. Everything gets better if you just keep a positive attitude about it." He played with his shoelaces absentmindedly.

I had figured it out. Riku's way of dealing with pain was to tough it out and wait until he was alone to sort through his feelings. Riku turned into a human statue—no emotion or weakness. Sora was kinda similar, but also really different—he felt every little hurt, and he had so many emotions that he didn't know what to do with them all. Then he would just laugh everything off and try to ignore it, waiting for a quiet moment to deal with the heavy stuff. I remembered that he had told me once that if he just kept smiling it would all be better.

He noticed that I had been staring at him. He looked up at me and grinned. "What? Do I have something on my face?" I blushed and shook my head. He laughed and stood up. "Hey, can I take off my shoes? I promise they don't smell too horrible."

I nodded at him, feeling a grin spread across my face. He proceeded to pull off his large black shoes and quietly placed them under the windowsill. He turned around and smiled at me. He walked around my room, studying different objects. I silently gave thanks that I had cleaned my room yesterday.

He stopped in front of the shelf that I had filled with pictures. He looked intently at each one. He glanced over at me and pointed to one in particular. "Is this you?" I got up to see which one he was talking about. It was a picture of me at the beach; I had to be at least five years old. I chuckled and said "Yep. That's me. I was kind of a chubby little kid."

He laughed quietly and continued looking at the pictures. They were ordered from the oldest to most recent. When he got to the end, he froze. He kept his face carefully blank, and in a politely interested voice, asked "When were these taken?"

I looked at the pictures. They were two of the photos I had taken early at the festival. Pence and Hayner were making muscles at each other, and Olette, Roxas, and Namine were laughing at them. We had been standing under the strings of lights near the food stands. The second photo showed Roxas giving Namine a piggyback ride, the both of them grinning happily at the camera. I felt my heart squeeze painfully, but then the feeling was gone. "Um, I took that at the festival last week." I said softly.

"Oh." He wandered away from the shelf, lost in thought. He sat down on the edge of my bed and stared into space. I didn't like seeing him like this – I didn't like it when anything made him sad. I sat down next to him and touched his arm. "Hey, are you okay?" He snapped to attention. "What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." He said quickly.

I didn't believe him. Not really. I took a chance and, blushing like crazy, put my arms around him. I leaned my head against his shoulder and said "Okay. But, I just want you to know, you can tell me if you're not fine. All right?" It took him a few moments to respond. I think I surprised him by hugging him. Then, he slowly put his arms around me and hugged me back. "Okay." He said quietly.

I grinned. Whenever I was near him, I felt happy and safe. I really enjoyed being with him. Was this a good thing? I thought so. Was this a smart thing to feel? Probably not. Did I care? Hell no.

That was the last thought I had before I dozed off.

* * *

Sora felt her breathing take on the deep, even pattern of sleep. He thought about just laying her down on the bed and leaving through the window, but decided against it. She had allowed him into her house, even though it was practically midnight and she knew about his history. She'd even trusted him enough to fall asleep in his arms.

He hadn't felt this good in a long time. He felt like someone needed him, like they actually wanted him to be there. He felt loved.

The sound of her breathing became hypnotic; he felt his eyelids become heavy. His brain turned fuzzy, and he started to feel drowsy. He lay back on the bed, still holding Kairi in his arms, and thought _Well, I could just close my eyes for one minute. _

Within moments, he was fast asleep.

* * *

Now, I don't know about you, but when the first thing you hear in the morning is your mother gasping in shock, it is _not_ a good thing.

My eyes snapped open. I saw that Sora and I were still holding on to each other. _Oh dear God_.

My mom let out an eardrum-splitting shriek. If the two of us hadn't been awake before, we sure were now. Sora shot up so fast that he ended up losing his balance and fell to the floor. I sat up quickly, completely freaked out. "Mom, Mom, it's not what you—" but she was already running down the hall, ignoring every word I said.

I honestly thought she was going to call the police. My eyes went wide, and I looked at Sora. He looked back at me, just as shocked as I was. I stood up quickly and helped him up. "Hurry, out the window! You've gotta go _now_!" We were about two feet from the window when my mom reappeared in the doorway, brandishing a baseball bat.

"You scum, how dare you trick my daughter like this?! Why would you go after my sweet little angel?!" She rushed forward, still ranting and raving at Sora. Sora's eyes widened, and he hastily backed up against the wall. I was afraid that she would actually bash his head in with the bat, so I quickly stepped in front of him and held out my arms.

My mom stopped raving at Sora and started screeching at me. "Kairi, you get out of the way now, or I'll--" "Mom, listen to me! Nothing--" "Don't you tell me nothing happened! Do you think I'd honestly--" "I'm serious! We didn't do anything! Why would you--" "Oh, don't give me that! He was in _bed_ with you! How could--" "It's not what you think, I promise!" She took another step closer, and I think she was seriously going to try to reach around me to hit Sora with the bat.

In a panic, I stepped forward and shouted "Mom, this is Sam! The kid I was telling you about on Monday!" She stopped and looked at me blankly. "What?" Sora also looked extremely confused. He glanced at me and muttered "Um, what are you talking about, Kairi?"

I let my guard down a little bit, positive that no one was going to receive bodily harm. I took a deep breath and looked at my mom. "Look, you remember how I told you about those two other friends that I have that you haven't met yet? This is Sam. Well, his real name is Sora. He was at the funeral last night." I nudged Sora with my elbow. "Introduce yourself." I said under my breath. He nodded and slowly extended a hand.

"Hi, Mrs. Avery. I'm Sora Kingsley." He said cautiously. My mother looked at his hand like it was a dead fish. After a second, he put his hand down and said "Okay, then."

She looked at me scathingly. "You told me they were _friends_." I nodded very quickly. "They are, Mom. Sora came over last night because he couldn't sleep. We talked for a while, and we both fell asleep. _Nothing happened. _Okay?"

She looked like she didn't believe a word I said. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at me. "Uh huh. Okay, you expect me to believe that?" I nodded earnestly. "I'm telling you, it's the truth! I wouldn't lie to you about something like this."

She unfolded her arms and studied my face, her expression unreadable. She glanced from me to Sora and back again, and then she sighed and shook her head. "I really don't know if you would lie to me or not about this." She shifted the bat from one hand to the other, and took a few steps away from me. She leaned the bat against the wall and turned around to look at us.

"Kairi, I want to be able to trust you. So, I'm going to believe you on this one." She gave Sora a dirty look. "But I want _him_ out of here by the time I come back out of my room. Got it?" she barked. The both of us nodded. She spun on her heel and left my bedroom, slamming the door on her way out.

I let out a sigh of relief. I glanced at Sora. He was just coming away from the wall, still staring at the door as if it would burst open any minute. He looked at me and smiled uncertainly. "You know, I don't think she liked me all that much." I stared at him for a moment. Then, without meaning to, I started cracking up. He looked at me in confusion, and then a grin spread across his face. He started to laugh right along with me.

Between giggles, I stuttered "I, I can't believe, she let us off so easy! I thought she was going to kill you with that baseball bat!" He shook his head in amazement, laughing too hard to speak. I managed to make myself calm down after a little while, and I realized that we didn't have a lot of time to be joking.

I listened for my mom and, hearing her in her room, I quickly grabbed Sora's shoes and gestured for him to follow me. He quieted down, not wanting to upset my mom any more than he already had. We walked through my bedroom door and tiptoed down the hallway, quiet as mice.

I led him down the stairs, through the kitchen, down the front hall, and stopped in front of the front door. I handed him his shoes and smiled at him. He grinned in that goofy way that I love, and pulled his shoes on without untying them.

He glanced back down the hallway, making sure my mom wasn't suddenly going to appear, and looked at me. "Are you going to be in a lot of trouble with your mom?" he asked softly, the concern on his face plain as day. I shrugged at him. "I don't know. She's kinda unpredictable." He looked a little upset, so I quickly smiled reassuringly at him and said "I'm sure everything's gonna be fine. Okay?"

He tilted his head to one side, studying my face. "Okay." he said slowly. He took a step forward and wrapped me in a bone-crushing hug. "Thank you again for letting me stay here last night." He said quietly. I could barely breathe, but I still hugged him back. "Don't worry about it. Any time."

He hugged me even tighter, if that was possible. Suddenly, he pulled back and, uh, well, planted a kiss right on my lips.

I felt my eyes turn into saucers, and a deep blush crept across my face. We stayed like that for a second, and then Sora pulled away, his eyes half closed. I couldn't have formed a clear thought if I had wanted to. He blinked rapidly and cleared his throat. "Um, I, uh, better go now." He said, avoiding looking me in the eyes.

I nodded slowly, my head still spinning. He half-smiled at me and opened the front door. He stepped outside and, waving at me, closed the door quietly behind him.

I somehow seemed to lose all connections in my brain. I felt like I was high up in the air, like nothing far below on the ground could touch me. Then, rather quickly, I came crashing down to earth.

Oh. My. God. Sora had just kissed me! I jumped up and down and waved my arms around like some psycho kid at Christmas. I did a little dance and spun around, feeling like I was floating. I grinned like an idiot and punched the air. I leaned back against the door, coming off my crazy high, and slid to the floor. I sat there for a few minutes, smiling so hard that it actually made my cheeks sore.

You know, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad day after all.

* * *

When Riku woke up that morning, he sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He blinked a couple of times and looked around the room. It was the same as he had left it the night before. His funeral clothes lay in a heap at the door, and the pieces of the glass bottle he had hurled at the wall were still scattered around the floor.

He sighed and stood up. He grabbed some fresh clothes out of the closet and walked out into the hallway, hoping that someone had already made breakfast. He entered the kitchen, finding Luxord cheating Demyx out of his money at poker. They looked up briefly as he came in. They muttered a greeting and continued their game.

Riku walked to the fridge and, finding it devoid of edible food, as usual, closed it again and left the small kitchen. He walked out to the front room, wondering if Sora was awake yet. He rounded the corner and saw, to his surprise, an empty couch. The spare blankets that Sora had been using wee crumpled up at one end of the sofa, as if they had been thrown off in a hurry.

Riku furrowed his brow. Sora usually didn't wake up until about noon. Riku shook his head and wandered back to the kitchen, thinking that someone else would know where Sora was.

When he directed his question at Luxord and Demyx, they both just shrugged, never taking their eyes off the cards in front of them. Riku glanced over Demyx's shoulder and saw that he had a royal flush—and he apparently didn't know it. Riku laughed to himself. Demyx had never been any good at cards. Demyx glared over his shoulder at him.

"What?" he snapped irritably. Riku held up his hands defensively. "Nothing, nothing. It's just that you might want to learn how to play cards better. That, or you should stop betting against Luxord." Demyx glowered at him and called him a few colorful names as he turned back to the game.

Riku left the kitchen and was about to go to the bathroom, but Larxene cut in front of him. "Hey!" he protested. "I was here first!" Larxene smiled smugly at him. "Sorry. Ladies first." She drawled.

Riku almost laughed at her. "Wait a second. '_Ladies_ first'? Wouldn't that put you at the end of the line?" He grinned impudently. Her green eyes flashed dangerously. He ducked just in time to avoid being slapped. He retreated down the hallway, not wanting to get into a fight with a pregnant girl – it didn't even matter if it was Larxene or not.

That thought still scared him. Larxene and Axel as _parents_. He shuddered. He couldn't even begin to imagine how their kid would turn out—what with the unfortunate breeding and all.

He let out a breath and collapsed on the couch. _I wonder where Sora went._ He thought to himself. _Well, anywhere is probably better than here. _

Suddenly, the door at the end of the hallway crashed open and Axel strode out. He yawned hugely and stretched out his long arms. After a moment, he walked down the hallway and glanced at Riku. "Hey, where's Sora? I need to chat with him about something." Riku shrugged. "I don't know. He wasn't here when I woke up. The others don't know where he is either."

Axel grunted absentmindedly. Then, in a voice that shook the whole house, he thundered "Yo! Everyone in the front room, now!" Riku could hear everyone drop what they were doing and scramble to get to the front room before everyone else. Several pairs of feet scrabbled against the wood floors, and he heard someone trip over their own feet in the process of running.

Soon all the members of the Organization were there, with the exception of Sora and the members that were in prison. Axel looked everyone over and frowned. "Okay, everybody. Right now, we're short on supplies and members. There are only nine of us now so, unfortunately, we're gonna need to be a little careful." There was some grumbling and complaining at this.

Axel glared at them, and everyone shut up immediately. Clearing his throat, he continued. "So, we need to acquire new supplies. That, or we all get jobs, like Sora and Riku." He was able to keep a straight face for a moment before he started laughing. The others joined in.

Axel smirked and said "Okay. I've got a few plans. They'll take some time, but they're worth it, I guarantee it." He grinned. "I've found some places of interest around town. We're gonna need to be quick and careful with this. And we'll need everyone if we're going to pull it off." He looked around at the assembled gang members. "Lexaeus, Zexion, and Demyx are going to old Harrison's place. You're going to collect on those debts he owes us."

Lexaeus cracked his knuckles. Zexion asked "What if he doesn't have the payment?" Axel shrugged carelessly. "Whatever. Take his car, his T.V, his dog, I don't care. We need those payments."

He addressed the rest of them. "Xigbar, Luxord, you two take the west side of Market Street. Half the shop owners on that block owe us cash. Same thing goes for them if they can't pay." Luxord and Xigbar nodded. Xigbar looked excited to go terrorize people.

Axel looked at Larxene and Riku. "And we have our lucky winners!" he said sarcastically. "You two get to come with me." Larxene snarled at him. "Why would I go with you?" she spat. Axel steadily returned her glare. "One, you're pregnant with _my_ kid," he said coolly, "and two, because I told you to." The other members sensed the tension level rising between the two of them. They split off into their teams and quietly slipped out the front door, suddenly intent on their assignments.

Larxene glared at them as they left. Then she turned her fury on Axel. "You say that like it's _my_ fault." She hissed. "Well, I got news for you: I didn't want to get knocked up by some moron who can't keep his hands to himself!"

Riku could see that Axel was deliberately holding back. Apparently, he didn't want to hit the mother of his kid, for some reason.

Axel waited a few seconds before responding. 'Well, I got news for you: you didn't exactly do anything to stop me, now, did you? It wasn't like you weren't there at the time!" He folded his arms and glowered at her. Riku thought Larxene's head would explode.

"Oh, right, so what, it _is_ my fault? You stupid bastard! This is not my fault! If anything, you should be apologizing to me." She shouted, pointing at herself. "This would never have happened if you could actually comprehend the word _protection_! Jesus, I'm not ready to have a freakin' baby!" she cried. Her voice cracked on the last words, and she angrily blinked back tears.

Axel regarded her coldly. "So, what? Do you want to get rid of it?" he asked quietly. Larxene froze and stared at him blankly. "What?" she asked numbly, her voice quavering. Axel's expression didn't change. "You heard me."

Larxene stared at him for a moment. "Well, ye—I mean, I. . . I don't . . ." she trailed off, her conflicting emotions evident on her face. "I don't know."

Axel sighed and shook his head. "Look, do you think I'm ready for a kid? I know I'm not. But, I think we can get through this thing together." He said, uncharacteristically softly. He unfolded his arms and tilted his head at her. "Well, you stay here, and when you decide if you want to kill our kid or not, let me know."

He turned away from her, signaling that he wouldn't discuss it further. Larxene stared at him, and then slowly made her way down the hallway to the room she shared with him. After he heard the door close quietly behind her, Axel rubbed his hands together and glanced at Riku, who had stayed silent the entire time. He had stayed quiet partially because he knew it wasn't his conversation, and partly because the both of them together scared the crap out of him.

"What?" Axel snapped. Riku held up his hands and avoided looking directly at him. He knew better than to challenge Axel when he was like this. "Nothing, boss." He said quickly.

And, much to his misfortune, Sora decided to appear at the door right at that moment. Riku mentally smacked his forehead. _Oh crap_. He thought dismally.

Sora carefully opened the front door and stepped inside. He glanced up at the two older boys and, sensing the pent-up frustration and stress, cautiously said "Hey, guys." Axel fixed a glare on him and, in a voice that could have cut through steel, said "Where the hell have you been?"

Sora avoided looking at him. "Nowhere, man. I was just out." Axel narrowed his eyes. "Out? You don't go out. You don't even get out of bed before lunch. Now, really. Where were you?" Sora shrugged and turned away. "I told you. I was just outside, that's all."

Axel didn't take well to this. In two long strides, he was standing over Sora. He grabbed on to his shirt and shook him violently. "You know, I'm really not in the mood to be lied to. And, yes, you are a terrible liar. So, tell me, before I really get pissed off." Sora looked up at him dubiously. "I thought you already were really pissed off." He muttered. With that, Axel lifted him off the ground by the front of his shirt.

Riku leapt off the couch. "Hey! Enough already. Put him down, Axel." He said angrily. Axel wasn't stupid—even he knew when he was outnumbered. He dropped Sora and glared at him. "Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Why weren't you here to get your assignment?"

Sora felt his eyes widen. They had gotten new assignments today? He looked away and mumbled a response. Axel leaned forward, one hand cupped around his ear. "What was that? I'm afraid I didn't hear that correctly."

Sora glowered at the floor. "I was at Kairi's." he muttered. Axel straightened up and smirked. "Ah. So I did hear that correctly." He glanced over at Riku. "And how do you feel about this? You know, since you like her and all that."

Riku kept his face stonily blank. "I don't have any opinion about it." He said stiffly.

Axel chuckled darkly and put a hand on Sora's shoulder in a parody of friendship. "So," he said to Sora, while he stared at Riku, "you finally tapped that?"

Sora jerked away from him, baring his teeth. Riku looked positively frightening. Axel laughed at the two of them. "Well? Did you get some or not?" he grinned maliciously. Sora narrowed his eyes and grated "No. We didn't do anything. What the hell is your problem?"

Axel smirked. "Well, if you don't, then I will. It's just too much of a shame to let something that looks like that get away. Besides, she's got a nice ass." He laughed. "But I'm sure you've both already noticed that." Riku looked murderous. He took a couple steps toward Axel before Sora stopped him. "Not a good idea, man." He muttered. "He's not worth it. He's just stupid, that's all."

Axel heard what he had said. His eyes flashed momentarily, and he gritted his teeth. Then, seeming to lose all the anger in him, he smiled and pulled out his lighter and began to flip it open and closed. Sora glanced at him and figured that he could stop holding Riku back. He put his arm down and stepped away from his friend, who remained as still as a statue.

Sora looked between Axel and Riku, making sure that neither of them would try to hurt each other. Then he glanced at Axel and said "So, what's the new mission?" Axel looked up from his lighter and said "Acquire new materials. Collect debts. The usual."

Sora nodded. "Ah. Who's on my team this time? What's the goal?" Riku looked up when he said this. He still didn't know what the goal of the new mission was either. Axel smirked at the two of them. "Well, you're on my team. It's me, you, and Riku. I've had my eye on a particular house for some time. Nice place. Not big, but classy. Now, I'm pretty sure that we've already established a connection, of sorts, with the people that live there."

Riku studied him closely. Where was he going with this?

Axel snapped the lighter closed. "We're short on money. And supplies. We are going to get both of these things from the people that live in that house."

Sora arched an eyebrow. "Really? And, what? They're just going to hand it over to us if we ask politely?" he said sarcastically. Axel smiled crookedly. "Well, here's the thing. If either of _you_ ask nicely, I'm sure that they would help us out. After all, you two are pretty close to the princess. You _were_ just at her house, am I right?"

Sora took a step back and shook his head angrily. "No way. I'm not going to help you steal from her." Axel just shrugged. "Suit yourself. But when you're sitting outside and you have nowhere to sleep, don't you come around here." Sora's eyes widened as the gravity of that statement hit him. "You can't do that! You can't just kick me out because of one stupid mission!"

Axel glared at him. "Don't you tell me what I can and can't do. Who let you join the Organization in the first place? Who decided to keep you around out of sheer kindness? I did. I could have kicked your ass out of here a long time ago if I had wanted to. But I didn't. You followed through on your assignments, you followed orders, and you were the best one to have around when we were breaking into second floor windows. It would really be a shame to have someone with your talents go to waste, but I'm willing to do it, if you push me."

Riku glanced at Sora. He looked devastated. Riku knew that the Organization was the only family Sora had; he would do almost anything to keep it. And, unfortunately, Axel knew that as well.

Sora lowered his eyes to the floor. He considered everything that had happened, and everything that could happen. Slowly, he came to his decision.

"All right. I'll help you."

* * *

**A/N:**

**Hey, guys! Sorry it's taken so long for me to update. **

**I've been dealing with finals all week. High school is a huge pain sometimes.**

**Aw, Sora! I hate Axel. **

**Ha-ha anyways, next chapter coming soon. Let me hear what you think1 Review, please!**


	17. Chapter 17

I spent the rest of my Saturday cleaning the house, doing chores, picking up groceries, finishing my homework, and doing anything that I possibly could to make my mother less upset. She barely spoke a word to me all day. It wasn't until I was getting ready for bed that she actually had a conversation with me. She told me that she loved me, and that she wanted to be sure I was safe all the time. I apologized for the thousandth time and tried to assure her that I was perfectly fine, but I don't think she believed me.

We both went to bed without another word. That night, I flitted between nightmares of a possessed baseball bat chasing me around and dreams that I was with Sora. Now, I don't know about you, but I definitely preferred the second one.

When I woke up, it was almost eleven. I groaned and sat up. I had a massive headache, and I felt more tired now than I had been when I went to sleep. I forced myself out of bed and I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. When I was done, I wandered down to the kitchen to get breakfast.

I found a note on the counter from my mom. It said: "I'm out with friends for the day. Call me if you need anything. Love, Mom." I folded the note up and tossed it back onto the counter. I thought idly that sometimes I was more of a parent to her than she was to me.

I spent a few hours watching T.V. At about 3:00, I got really bored and decided to go for a bike ride. I locked up the front door and got my bike out of the garage. The note that Axel had attached to it was still there. It said "Watch yourself. You never know what could happen if you don't."

I crumpled it up in disgust and tossed it into the metal garbage can in the corner of the garage. I wheeled my bike out and locked the garage door. I looked up at the sky; it was a sunny day outside, and a little windy.

I hopped on the bike and pedaled my way down the street. I thought about where I should go – it had been a while since I'd been outside. I decided that I should go see if Namine was working at the art studio. I saw her the least out of all my friends, so I thought that I should make the effort to get to know her better.

I turned left on Postern Street and made my way up the road to Market Street. When I saw the plaza at the end of Market Street, I slowed down. I could see the art studio from where I was. I pedaled up to the front of the small storefront and chained my bicycle to the bike rack in front of the windows. I nearly entangled my own leg in the bike chain, but I don't think anyone saw that.

I started for the door, but then I heard voices at the other end of the street. Familiar voices.

I turned to look at the source of the voices, hoping that I was wrong about who they belonged to. And, to my horror, I was correct. Xigbar and that kid with silver earrings were making their way down the street, checking names off a list they had attached to a clipboard.

I gasped and rushed through the door of the art studio. I slammed the door behind me and peered through the window, making sure that they were still a ways off. I saw them enter one of the small storefronts. I was so busy checking on them that I didn't hear someone enter the front area of the studio.

"Um, may I help you, miss?" came a quizzical voice from behind me. I whirled around to see a short woman with dirty blond hair standing in front of me. She had remarkably blue eyes. I realized with a start that I had seen her at Roxas's funeral. I stood up straight and smiled at her. "Uh, hi. I'm Kairi Avery. You're Mrs. Strife, right?"

She smiled kindly and nodded her head. "Yes, I am. I don't think we've had a chance to meet properly." She reached out and shook my hand warmly. I smiled politely and said "Well, now we've officially met." She laughed good-naturedly, and I decided that I liked her.

She studied my face for a moment. "How are you doing?" she asked softly. I didn't understand her at first. When she repeated her question, I realized she was referring to Roxas. I felt that now-familiar squeeze around my heart, but all I said was "I'm doing fine." She smiled and said "That's good. My Namine keeps telling me she's better, but I know she'll need lots of time to get over it."

I nodded slowly. "Yeah. By the way, is she here? I'd like to talk to her." She shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry. She's at home with her brother. She needed to . . . take some time off." I nodded in understanding. "I get it. Will she be at school tomorrow?"

Mrs. Strife nodded. I smiled. "Okay. I'll just talk to her then. Thank you, Mrs. Strife." I turned to leave the studio, but she stopped me. "I heard Namine saying you liked her artwork." I glanced back at her and grinned. "Of course I do. She's such a good artist!" Her mother smiled gratefully at me. "Thank you. She really is. Would you like to see some of her other pieces?" I nodded eagerly.

She went behind the small desk and took out some long canvases. "These were her latest works." She explained. She turned them around so I could see each one. At first I thought they were photographs, but then I realized that they were actually drawings. That's how good they were. The first one was of Olette, holding a small flower and grinning. The second one was of Hayner in his basketball uniform, sitting on the school bleachers.

The third one was of me, to my surprise. And, to my slight embarrassment, I was sitting in a tree, fast asleep. I couldn't help grinning. She knew me well! The fourth one was of Pence, eating his lunch at our usual table in the cafeteria. He had a smudge of ketchup on his cheek. I stifled a giggle and looked at the last one. And, if I had thought the first four were good, then this last one was flat out incredible.

Roxas was sitting cross-legged on the floor of what I assumed to be his bedroom, smiling contentedly at the person drawing the picture. Every detail was flawless. I even saw the tiny hint of a scar that he'd had on his right arm. His blue eyes were enrapturing, just like they had been in real life. My eyes were getting that prickly feeling that warned me that tears were on the way, but at the same time, I couldn't help smiling.

It was perfect in every way, but when I looked at the bottom right corner of the picture, I saw that it wasn't complete yet. When I pointed this out to Mrs. Strife, she shook her head a little sadly. "Namine was working on this when the hospital called last week. She couldn't bring herself to work on it after that."

"Oh. Well, it's a perfect likeness of him. Of all of us," I said truthfully, gesturing at all of the portraits. "She's really outdone herself."

Mrs. Strife grinned and started to put the drawings away. "I really think that this is her best work yet. She was going to give them to you all as presents when she had finished them." I smiled. Namine was a truly great friend.

"That's really nice of her." I said softly. Her mom nodded. I watched as she cleaned up the small desk and put the drawings back underneath it. Her mom looked sad, which was understandable. I bet my mom would have been sad if my boyfriend had died, too. Not that I have one or anything, but still.

I smiled and thanked her, asking her to tell Namine that I said hello. But right as I was turning around to leave the store, the front door crashed open. In the doorway stood Xigbar and the kid with silver earrings.

I panicked. I immediately looked around the room for something to throw or use as a weapon. I saw the heavy paper weight shaped as an apple on the small desk, and I picked it up, testing the weight in my hands. I looked up at them as they laughed.

Xigbar held up his hands defensively and chuckled. "Whoa, where's the fire?" he asked dryly. "We aren't here for any trouble. Are we, Luxord?" The kid with earrings shrugged and grinned. "Maybe, maybe not, Xig. It depends on you guys, I guess." He said mockingly, looking at us. I glanced at Mrs. Strife. What I saw on her face frightened me. She looked like she would have absolutely no qualms about tearing them into little pieces and putting them through a paper shredder—and then burning the pieces when she was done.

She glared murderously at them. "You _swine_. Get out of this shop, _now_!" she said quietly. There was a razor edge to her tone that would have rivaled Roxas's. The two of them glanced at each other and burst out laughing. "Aw, but you would miss us." Luxord said obnoxiously.

"Yeah. We were in the neighborhood, and we'd figured that we should see old friends." Xigbar said haughtily. "Speaking of which, is Namine around?" he grinned maliciously at Mrs. Strife.

She didn't say a word. She just very deliberately walked around to the back of the desk, bent over, and picked something up. When she stood up again, she was holding a long, well-polished gun in her hands. She pointed it straight at the two of them.

"Shit!" Xigbar practically killed himself tripping over his own two feet trying to back away. Luxord backed into the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, his eyes like saucers. I could only stare. Mrs. Strife hadn't seemed capable of hurting a fly two minutes ago. And now here she was, pointing a gun at two of the guys that had attacked her daughter. Well, that's a mother's protective instincts for you.

Another thought struck me. Was I the only person in Twilight Town that didn't have some sort of gun?

Mrs. Strife looked at the two of them calmly. "Leave. Now. Or I might just pull the trigger." Xigbar sneered at her. "Who do you think you're dealing with?" he growled. She glowered at him. "Just some trash. Don't delude yourselves—you're worthless."

Xigbar picked himself up off the ground, looking warily at the gun. He glanced at me. "Hey, you're friends with Sora, right?" he smiled slyly. "You wouldn't let anything happen to friends of his, would you?" He grinned at me, exposing all of his teeth. They were oddly pointed-looking, like a wild animal's.

I stared coldly at him. "You are no friends of Sora's."

Anger flashed across his face. Luxord was inching toward the door. I heard the gun clicking into place next to me. Mrs. Strife stepped forward, her face completely blank. "I told you already—leave. I have a permit for this gun. If you end up dead, I'm sure Kairi here wouldn't mind if I told the police that it was in self defense."

The two of them looked furious – and afraid. Xigbar turned his back on us and strode to the door. Luxord followed him, glancing worriedly back at Mrs. Strife every few seconds. Before Xigbar slammed the door behind him, he glared back at the two of us and said "Watch yourselves. No one threatens the Organization and gets away with it." He turned on his heel and walked away, fuming. Luxord followed him.

I looked over at Mrs. Strife. Her hands shook badly as she put the gun away. I could hardly believe that she was capable of such hatred and rage. I don't think that even _I_ could have gotten that angry. I cautiously went to her side. I dropped the apple-shaped paper weight on the desk. I gingerly placed a hand on her shoulder and said "Are you all right?"

She looked up at me tiredly. She seemed to have aged ten years. "No. I'm not all right. Those . . . those . . . _monsters_ hurt my baby. They left my little girl almost dead. I will never be okay. Not until they receive their just punishment." Her blue eyes flashed momentarily. "And if I have to be the one to administer that punishment, then I'll do it."

I removed my hand. The ferocity that filled her quiet words was enough to make me take a step back. I silently watched her as she returned to her normal state. I thought sadly that it hadn't just been Namine that had been badly hurt – everyone close to her had been affected. I clasped my hands together in front of me, wondering what I should do.

Mrs. Strife seemed to realize that I was still there. She blinked at me and smiled a little bit. "I'm sorry. Are _you_ all right?" I nodded my head yes, even though I was anything but. She accepted my answer without question, and she began to clean the desk off again. I figured that I should go home; I would be of no help here.

"Thank you again, Mrs. Strife. I'm just going to head home now." Her head snapped up. "Wait, Kairi. Do you want me to give you a ride home? Those two could still be out there." I pondered that idea, but the image of those two being run over repeatedly by Mrs. Strife's car popped into my head. I quickly went to look out the windows. After making sure that I couldn't see them in either direction, I turned back to her and grinned.

"No thanks. I don't see them anywhere. Oh, and I have my bike outside, so it'll be no trouble." I said quickly. She was about to protest, but I was already on my way out the door, calling out a goodbye and a thank-you on my way out. I hurriedly unlocked my bike and hopped onto the seat. She had opened the door and was urging me to come back inside, but by the time she was outside the studio, I was halfway down the block, waving a goodbye.

I sighed as I turned my eyes back to the road in front of me. I wasn't about to let a distraught mother take out her rage on a couple of lackeys. If she was going to get her revenge, she should do it the right way—she should be able to take down the leader. I know it would do more than a few people a favor if Axel ended up behind bars or six feet under.

I felt a huge headache coming on. I groaned and set a course for my house, ready for some down time.

* * *

Sora was standing in Kairi's bedroom, staring at the shelf full of pictures. It was like he was watching a slideshow of her life when he looked at the photos. He looked at the first picture, the one of her at her first birthday. She was covered in cake, and her mother and the man he assumed to be her father were standing on either side of her, smiling happily at their daughter.

He skipped down the line of pictures until he came to the last two. It hurt him every time he looked at them. Roxas and Namine were so happy; it was his fault that their joy had been short-lived. His friends told him otherwise, but he knew that was the case. He had screwed up their lives – one of them had died because of him, and the other was mentally and physically scarred because he hadn't been able to help her. And, worst of all, it was happening again.

He sighed and looked away.

Suddenly, he heard the front door open. He swore quietly and made for the window. He lowered himself out onto the waiting tree branches, and he closed the window behind him.

He sat there for a moment, wondering if it was Kairi or her mother that had come home. Right then, Kairi's bedroom door opened, and she walked in. He could see her sit down in the chair at her desk, holding her head in her hands.

He briefly considered going in and asking her what was wrong, but he decided against it. He had to distance himself from her – that, or he had to find somewhere else to live.

He jumped out of the tree and landed lightly on his feet. Casting one last look at the window, he jogged down the street, heading for home.

* * *

My head felt like it was going to explode. My headache had progressively gotten worse as I rode home, making me feel dizzy and sick. I swiveled around in my chair, wondering if it was stress that was doing this to me.

Suddenly, I felt that something wasn't right. I glanced around the room, looking to see if something was out of place. I stood up and walked over to the window. It was unlocked.

Huh. I was sure that I had locked it before I left. I was about to go back to my desk when I noticed something on the floor under the window. It was just a smudge, but it looked like a faded shoeprint. I knelt down to get a closer look at it. The more I studied it, the dumber I felt. It was probably a print from Sora's shoe that I had missed when I was cleaning up yesterday. I had been kinda distracted, after all.

I straightened up quickly, feeling like an idiot. It's not like he would break into my house while I wasn't there. Fortunately, he only did that while I was at home. Right?

I smiled to myself. I was just freaking myself out with this. It was no big deal. I made myself ignore the smudge on the floor, distracting myself with my computer and cell phone. But the more I tried to ignore it, the more it surfaced in my mind. I was sure that I'd cleaned every inch of my room yesterday, and that I'd locked my window today.

So why was there a footprint on the floor?

Finally, I was so irritated with myself that I just decided to clean it up. I got a wet rag and wiped at the spot, watching with uneasy satisfaction as it disappeared. When it was clean, I threw the rag down the laundry chute, willing myself to forget about the whole thing.

But when I was going to bed that night, I couldn't help thinking: what if my instincts were right? What if Sora--or someone else-- had been in my room while I was gone?

I had a terrible time sleeping. I had nightmares of a faceless figure that was haunting my room. Every time I thought I would catch a glimpse of their face, darkness poured in and shrouded them. I had the same nightmare over and over until my alarm clock went off the next morning.

* * *

After I managed to throw my alarm clock into a wall to get it to shut up, I sat up in bed, feeling like crap. I took a shower, got dressed, and went downstairs to eat something. When I sat down at the kitchen table, even my mom could tell something was up.

"Honey, are you all right? You seem like you're half-asleep." I blinked and looked up. "What? Oh, no, I'm fine. Don't worry about it." She looked quizzically at me. "Are you sure? Do you want me to give you a ride to school?" I considered the offer and accepted it, thinking that I might end up sleepwalking into traffic or something.

When my mom dropped me off at school, I resisted the urge to sit down on the ground and sleep. I'd had enough trouble with that already, thank you very much.

I blearily made my way down to my locker. I got my stuff and headed to English when the bell rang. Hayner glanced up as I sat down. "Hey, Kairi." He said tiredly. I nodded in acknowledgement. He looked over at me. "Are you okay? You seem a little off."

I smiled self-deprecatingly. "Yeah, I guess I'm a little bit off. I couldn't sleep at all." He nodded sympathetically. "Gotcha." Then class started, and the teacher told everyone to quiet down.

I took a test in science, which I'm pretty sure I failed. We were dismissed early from math because the teacher suddenly came down with the stomach flu and they didn't have a replacement. I spent the unexpected free period wandering around the halls, looking for someone to talk to. No one I knew had this period free, so I went to the cafeteria to wait for my friends.

The first one to show up was Olette, and she seemed to be doing really well. She even felt good enough to start chattering about the upcoming dance. When Namine and Pence showed up, she clamped her mouth shut. I couldn't understand why she did that, but then I remembered that Roxas wouldn't be there to take Namine to the dance.

God, it still killed me to think about it.

Soon Hayner showed up and lunch got underway. As opposed to the unmentionable agony it had been last week, Roxas's empty chair was now a part of the healing process. We were all doing considerably better, including Namine. At least, she was doing a good job pretending to be okay.

We all chatted about nothing in particular, getting used to the idea of it being just the five of us. All too soon, the bell rang, and we had to split up to go to class. I actually was able to pay attention in all my afternoon classes. I even raised my hand a few times. It felt weird to be a part of the living world, but in a good way. It was like I had been asleep for a long time, but now I was waking up.

I got most of my homework done during my free period, so I was looking forward to getting home. The final bell rang, and I joined the rush of students in the hallway to get to my locker. I couldn't hear any conversations about Roxas, so I figured that the buzz about it had died down.

I felt strangely happy as I got my things together. Nothing had gone wrong today. What a nice change.

I straightened up carefully, not wanting to trip over my own feet. When I closed my locker door, I nearly had a heart attack. Sora was leaning against the locker next to mine, looking uncomfortable for some reason.

Forcing my heart rate to slow down, I grinned at him and said "Jeez, you need to let a kid know when you're coming up to them. You never make any noise!" The corner of his mouth twitched, but he didn't smile. I felt that something was wrong.

"Hey, are you all right?" I asked carefully. He looked away from me and said "Yeah. I'm fine." I studied his face, searching for the true answer, but his usually open expression had been shut down and replaced with indifference. That scared me a little.

"Sora, what's wrong? Are you in trouble or something?" He looked even more uncomfortable. He shifted from one foot to the other and stared at the floor. "I need money." he mumbled. I felt my eyes widen. "Wait, why? Oh my god, are you all right? Did something happen?"

Still staring at the floor, he shook his head. "Nothing bad happened. I just need money."

I furrowed my brow and took a step closer to him. "Sora, do you need me to give you the money?" He nodded silently. "Okay, then. If I'm going to help you, you need to give me an explanation." I waited patiently, but he remained silent. He still couldn't look me in the eye.

I folded my arms. "Sora, I need a reason." He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. "I can't tell you."

That made me slightly upset. "Sora, I can't give you anything unless I know why." I said heatedly. "If you don't tell me, then you don't get anything. Okay?" I stared angrily at him, wondering why he couldn't tell me. And then he fixed those huge blue eyes on me, looking guilty and sad. I felt most of my anger melt away, which would have normally made me upset, but this time it was different. He needed help. I didn't know why, but he did. That was enough.

I let out a breath. "Ugh. Fine, I'll help you. But you have to come to my house with me to get it; I don't have any with me." He didn't say a word. In fact, he didn't even look happy that I was going to help him. He just nodded quietly and walked behind me as we left the school.

What the heck was going on here?

* * *

**A/N: **

**Hey everyone. Kind of a crappy chapter. My bad. DX It gets better in the next chapter, I promise. **

**Review, please! They are all that keep me posting. **

**Thanks to all of you that commented, and have a lovely day!**


	18. Chapter 18

The walk to my house was eerily quiet. Neither of us said a word to each other the whole way back. I could tell that Sora was deep in thought; but as to what he was thinking about, I couldn't tell you. It worried me that he wasn't talking to me. I mean, I'd been through so much crap since I'd met him that I didn't think he could have any more secrets. Well, apparently I was wrong.

When we came onto my street, I felt him tense up, like he was expecting something to jump out at us at any second. It was making me nervous. But when I voiced my concern, all he said was "Don't worry about it. Everything's fine." Yeah, like that would make me feel better.

I checked to make sure my mom wasn't home before I unlocked the front door. I didn't want another episode like the one on Saturday.

I let us in and told him to wait in the kitchen. He took a seat at the table, looking grim. I left him there and went up to my room to grab some money for him. I kept all the cash I had in a small backpack taped under my computer desk, where no one could find it. Not even my mom knew it was there. I had saved up at least three hundred dollars from my birthday and Christmas and stuff.

I opened the bag and pulled out a couple of twenties. Then I changed my mind and grabbed a hundred bucks to give him. I carefully taped the bag back under the desk and rushed downstairs, half expecting Sora to be gone when I got there.

He wasn't. He hadn't budged since I'd left him. He stared blankly at the table, lost in his own world. I clapped my feet loudly against he floor as I walked, letting him know I was there. He snapped to attention immediately, focusing on the money in my hands. I handed it to him.

"Is that enough?" I asked tentatively. He looked sad when he nodded his head yes. He stood up from the table, turned around, and gave me a hug, which threw me off completely. "Thank you, Kairi." he said softly. "You don't know what this means to me."

I was totally bewildered. He kissed me on Saturday, randomly shows up today and refuses to talk to me about this problem he's having, and now he's hugging me. Great. Like I need to be worrying about mixed signals at a time like this.

"Um, n-no problem." I stuttered intelligently. I patted him on the back and pulled away from him. "Are you sure you can't tell me about it?" I asked. He cleared his throat, looking extremely guilty. "I'm sure. I'm sorry." he said quietly. I chewed the inside of my cheek, frustrated. But I didn't say anything.

He looked at the clock on the wall. "I better go now. Don't want your mom to be mad at you." I glanced at the time. Almost 4:00. "You're right about that. She wasn't exactly thrilled the last time she saw you." I grinned. He actually smiled a little. "No, she wasn't."

Seeing him smile made me feel better. "Well, let me know if you need anything else. But tell me about it next time, okay?" He quickly turned serious again. "Hopefully I won't need to again. But thanks."

I nodded and walked him down the hallway to the front door. "Well, nice to see you." I said lamely. He almost laughed. "Yeah. Good seeing you." With that, he walked out the door, leaving behind one really confused girl.

* * *

Sora stepped through the front door of the hangout some time later, finding Axel lounging on the couch and smoking a cigarette. He closed the door quietly, entertaining the notion that Axel wouldn't notice him. But he did, of course.

"Hey, Romeo. How was Juliet?" he said mockingly. "I trust that things went well?"

Sora tiredly nodded yes. He walked over to the couch and threw the money at Axel. "There. I got you what you wanted. Happy?" he snapped. Axel smirked as he counted up the bills. "Whoa, there. Angry much?" Sora rubbed at his eyes with one hand. "Look, whatever. You got what you wanted, so you can leave her alone now."

Axel stood up, laughing. "Oh, are you ever wrong. You think this," he waved the money in the air, "is enough for me? Please. I can't even buy good beer with this. Or a crib, for that matter."

Sora's head snapped up. Did he just say _crib?_ "Wait, what? A crib?" Sora asked, suspicion coloring his tone. Axel sighed. "Boy, are you behind the times. Larxene up and decided to keep it." He seemed to zone out for a moment. "Larxene and I are going to have a kid." He said in a faraway voice.

Sora felt his stomach turn. A baby? Living _here_? That would be horrible. They couldn't even take care of themselves; how could they care for a baby?

Axel shook the thoughts of fatherhood from his head. Sora could only stare incredulously at him. Axel chuckled and said "Yeah. So, we're going to need a lot more of this." he said wryly, flipping the money back and forth. Sora's eyes widened in dismay. "They aren't a rich family, man! They can't afford to keep giving us cash! I think this was all she had."

Axel rolled his eyes. "You can't be serious. This couldn't have been _all_ she had." He sighed and shook his head. "You've never done this before. Why throw everything away for some chick?" Sora glowered at him. "She's not just some chick. Okay? She's not some slut that _you_ would be caught hanging around with." The only warning he got was the sudden glint in Axel's eyes. He suddenly felt starbursts explode behind his eyes as Axel's fist connected with his face.

Axel had him by the front of his shirt. He hauled him to his feet and growled "Oh? And what could you possibly mean by that? Huh?" He let Sora drop to the floor. He glared at him, green eyes flashing. Sora managed to get back on his feet, feeling along his jaw line. Nothing seemed broken; Axel hadn't hit him hard enough for that. He returned Axel's glare, not knowing what else to do.

Axel shook his head and crossed his arms. "If you can't deal with this, I'll remove the problem. I'll assign someone else to the job. I'm sure Xigbar or Lexaeus would be more than happy to take it on . . ." he said thoughtfully, turning and walking away from Sora.

Sora froze. Xigbar? Chills ran down his spine. "Wait." Axel stopped without turning around. He smiled smugly. He loved it when they took the bait. He wiped the smile off his face and turned to Sora. "Hmm? What is it? Did you change your mind?"

Sora stared at the floor. "How much more do you need?" he asked quietly. Axel pretended to consider. "Oh, a few hundred, at least." Sora looked at him without hope. "What if she doesn't have it?" he mumbled. Axel grinned viciously and lit another cigarette. "Well, you just let me worry about that. I'm sure I could work something out. So, unless you want something unfortunate to happen, you'd better hope that she does have it."

Sora bared his teeth at him. "Don't you _dare_ hurt her." he grated. Axel studied him emotionlessly. "I already told you; you get me at least four hundred bucks from her, and I'll consider letting it go. You've got two weeks. Got it memorized?" he laughed at Sora's desolate expression. "Aw, cheer up. Even if she doesn't have it, I promise we won't mess her up _too_ bad."

Axel chuckled darkly and left the room. Sora just stood there, shocked, feeling the endless guilt and despair threaten to overtake him.

* * *

When Riku got back later that night, Sora told him what had occurred. Riku was all for smothering Axel in his sleep, but Sora wanted a more peaceful solution. "We can't just go around killing people. I don't care how much we hate them." He said miserably from his seat on the floor.

Riku fell back onto his bed and groaned. "Well, what do you suggest we do then, huh? If you don't get the money, she's screwed. If you do get the money, Axel will just want more." Sora closed his eyes, resisting the urge to throw up. "I know that. I was hoping _you_ could figure a way out of this."

Riku sat up and looked at him. "What, me? What do you expect me to say? I don't have a plan for everything, you know." Sora sighed. "Yeah, I know. I just thought that you could help me out with this."

A light bulb went off in Riku's head. "Wait a second. Maybe you don't have to get all the money in one place—or from one person." Sora slowly turned to look at him. "What do you mean?" Riku grinned as the idea settled in. "Axel assumes that the money you gave him was from Kairi, right?" Sora nodded. "Yeah. So?"

"Well, he has no way of knowing _exactly_ where the money came from. This means that you _could_ take the money from a lot of different places. I mean, you have a part-time job at the skate shop. Take out some of your pay and give it to him. And I could contribute about seventy dollars to the fund." Sora felt everything click into place. A grin spread across his face, and he laughed softly.

But then reality set in. Sora groaned. "Man, I don't make enough to pay him off. Even if I worked every day for two weeks and gave him all the money I made, it would only be, like, a fifth of what he's expecting." Riku considered this. "Huh. You're right—and Axel's got eyes on Kairi's street. He'd figure out that something was up if you didn't go to her house regularly."

They both pondered how to best go about it for a while. Finally Riku let out a breath and said "Okay. We'll both have to work at the shop more than usual, that much is for sure. And I know a couple of people that owe me cash. Don't worry; if they can't pay, I'll just come back later. I'm not Axel." he said bitterly in response to Sora's sharp expression.

Riku added the numbers up in his head. "Well, if we both work for three hours after school every day this week and next, and if I can get half of those people to pay me back, we'd have about three hundred dollars. That is, if we both put in about forty dollars of our own money."

Sora looked down glumly. "I don't even have forty dollars. I gave all the money I had to Axel, saying it was from Kairi." Riku recalculated. "Okay, then. We need to get that last hundred and forty dollars another way."

Sora's eyes brightened as he remembered something. "Hey, you used to be the best pickpocket in the Organization. You and I could go to the mall tomorrow after school and make the rest of that money."

Riku's eyebrows shot up on his forehead. "I thought you hated stealing." Sora half-laughed. "Yeah, I do. But there's more important stuff at stake here, don't you think?"

Riku nodded, looking down at the floor. "All right, then. But we'll have to take it from lots of different people, so they don't notice it's gone." Sora looked at the clock. "Hey, I gotta get some sleep. It's almost midnight."

He stood up and walked to the door. He glanced back at Riku and grinned, feeling better now that there was a plan. "See you in the morning." Riku waved at him. "See ya."

* * *

The alarm went off way too early. I sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, willing myself out of bed. I took a quick shower and almost electrocuted myself with the hairdryer, got dressed, and went downstairs.

My mom was at work already. She had left me a note saying that she had an early meeting, and that she would be back in time to pick up dinner from one of the local restaurants. I sighed and folded the note back up. I wolfed down a bagel and some orange juice, grabbed my backpack and shoes, and left for school.

My entire morning flew by. We had a lecture on Shakespeare in English, we got those tests back in science (I didn't fail!), and we actually learned something new in math.

When the lunch bell rang, I made my way to the cafeteria. I waved at Tifa and Aerith in the lunch line as I passed them by. They smile at me and waved back. I saw Pence at the other end of the cafeteria, sitting at our usual table. I was about twenty feet away from the table when I was suddenly tackled by some football players.

"Oh, crap, guys. We just ran over someone. Sorry, little freshman. Didn't see you there," one of the massive kids said sheepishly. I forced a smile. "That's all right. And I'm a sophomore, not a freshman." They glanced at each other uncertainly. One of them extended a hand and helped me to my feet. "Are you sure? I haven't seen you around here before."

I grimaced. "I just moved here. So, yeah." I don't think they were the brightest bulbs on the Christmas tree, but they got the picture. "Oh. Well, sorry again, little sophomore." They took a few steps away and resumed pushing and shoving each other around. I smiled at their antics and carefully made my way to our table.

Pence was laughing so hard that he was turning red. "Th-that was hilarious!" he managed. "'Watch out, little freshman.' I honestly thought you were going to hit that guy in the face! You looked so mad." He subsided into a fit of laughter, oblivious to my withering expression.

Just then, Olette, Hayner, and Namine showed up. They looked questioningly at Pence, and turned to me for an explanation. When I had finished the story, the three of them were having a hard time keeping a straight face. I glared playfully at all of them, acting like I was all mad and stuff. But, in the end, the fact that I had made all of them laugh made me smile. It was good to have humor return to our lives.

Lunch went by relatively quietly. When the bell rang, we headed off to our separate classes, still carrying that leftover feeling of joy.

My afternoon was slow and long. I almost fell asleep several times out of sheer boredom. By the time the final bell rang, nothing made me happier than shoving all my stuff into my locker and leaving the school building.

The parking lot was more crowded than usual today; there was some sort of event in the gym. I narrowly missed being hit by several cars as I picked my way across the pavement to the sidewalk. One of them came so close to running me over that it actually hit my backpack before the driver stopped. I groaned. I hated the school parking lot.

As I was walking down the sidewalk, I heard a car pull up beside me. When I turned to look, I saw that it was Riku and Sora in their dark blue truck.

I stared in surprise, and then grinned. "Hey, guys. What's up?" I called. Sora grinned, and Riku waved half-heartedly. I walked to the passenger window and stopped. "So, where are you guys going?" I asked.

Sora laughed a little. "To the mall. We're going to work." he said with a trace of irony. I smiled. "Well, I'm glad to see that you're feeling better, at least. Hey, did you get out of whatever trouble you were in yesterday?" Riku snapped his attention to me. "Wait, what do you know about that?" he said sharply.

I was a little taken aback. "Um, not much. Sora's just a terrible liar, that's all. So, when he borrowed that money, I figured he was in trouble. So, were you?" I asked carefully, looking at Sora. He smiled easily and nodded. "Yep. I was. But not anymore, thanks to you! And I promise I'll find a way to pay you back."

I grinned. "You don't have to pay me back. I'm just happy you're okay. But, can you guys give me a ride home? I'd really appreciate it." Sora laughed and opened the car door, scooting over to make room for me.

I climbed in, loving the fact that I was with two of my favorite people in the whole world. Riku started up the engine, and we were on our way.

* * *

It was much faster getting a ride back to my house than it would have been walking. We pulled up in front of my house in five minutes flat. I gave Riku and Sora both hugs before I got out of the truck, laughing at the awkward responses that they gave.

I closed the truck door behind me, still grinning. "Okay. Thanks again, you guys. See you later."

"See ya."

"Later."

I giggled at the two of them, turned around and practically floated through the front door of my house. It seemed like everything was returning to some sense of normalcy. I could joke and talk openly to my friends, I was pulling my grades back up, and my mom seemed to be back to her usual flippant self.

I shut the front door behind me, feeling like all the pieces were finally fitting together.

But nothing good ever lasts long, does it?

* * *

**A/N:**

**Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long to update. **

**Ooh, cliffhanger. Duh-duh-DUH!**

**Review, please. Next chapter coming soon.**


	19. Chapter 19

Sora watched as Kairi disappeared into the house. After the door shut, Riku started up the engine and drove down the street. They turned on Market Street and came to a stop just outside the Twilight Town Mall.

Riku found the nearest available parking space and hopped out of the truck. Sora did the same. Riku glanced at his watch and looked over at Sora. "Okay. If we're gonna pull this off, you have to do exactly as I say. Got it?" Sora nodded vigorously.

Riku nodded in satisfaction and strode through the doors of the mall. Sora followed closely, not sure what to expect. Riku walked around for a while, looking for a suitable target. He didn't want to rob anyone too old or too needy.

Sora could almost feel Riku tense up when he saw the target. A rich-looking young woman in all designer clothing with an expensive looking bag walked toward them, yammering away on her cell phone. Riku took a deep breath and muttered. "Okay, watch and learn."

He walked toward the woman. As they were passing each other, Riku bumped into her, causing her to drop her bag and all its contents. "Oh, I'm so sorry, miss. Here, let me help you pick these up." he said apologetically. "That was a clumsy move on my part. I'm sorry. Oh, here's your wallet." he said smoothly, handing her the pink leather wallet.

The woman straightened up and took her wallet back. She studied Riku closely for a moment, scrutinizing him. Then she smiled coyly and said "Why, thank you. It was very kind of you to help me out." Riku grinned charmingly at her and said "It was really no problem, miss." The woman smiled and said "Oh, don't be ridiculous. Here's something for your trouble." She handed him a five-dollar bill. Riku unfolded it and saw a business card inside it. "That's my number, if you want to contact me for any reason."

Sora's jaw dropped as Riku apologized and thanked the woman again. Riku turned and walked back toward Sora, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

"Holy crap, Riku. How did you do that? She was practically slobbering all over you!" he exclaimed. Riku shrugged. "I wasn't the best pickpocket in the Organization for nothing." he said calmly. Sora snickered and shook his head. "Yeah, that and the fact that all the ladies dig you, Mr. Charm and Personality."

Riku smiled ruefully. "Yeah, all of them but one. For some reason, she likes you."

Sora's smile faded. What was he supposed to say to that? It still surprised him to think that Riku liked Kairi. "Look, I'm sorry man--" he started. Riku cut him off. "Hey, don't worry about it. At least she chose you instead of some loser. I would probably beat any other guy senseless—no one else would be good enough for her." He smiled. "Although, I might beat you to a pulp anyways if you can't get at least ten bucks from that guy over there."

Sora glanced at the man Riku was looking at. He was tall, tan, and extremely muscular. He looked like he could even be a match for Riku. Sora glanced back at Riku in disbelief. "Whoa, wait a second. You only got that lady to give you five bucks! And if you hadn't noticed, that guy is _huge_!"

Riku rolled his eyes. "You've got to be kidding me. You couldn't see when I pulled out that twenty?" he sighed, pulling out a twenty dollar bill from his pocket. Sora's eyes widened. "When did you get that?" he asked in awe.

Riku rubbed at one eye. "I took it when I was handing her back her wallet, you moron. I told you to _watch_ and _learn_! You really couldn't see me take it?" Sora shook his head dejectedly. Riku was too good to let anyone catch him stealing.

He sighed. "Well, Sora, I guess this will take longer than I thought. Now, I'll go a little slower this time. Watch." He began walking again. This time he bumped into a middle aged man wearing a business suit. He came back to Sora. After Sora assured him that the man was far away from them, Riku pulled out an expensive looking watch. It said Rolex on the side.

Sora felt light-headed. "Riku, is that a ten-thousand dollar watch you're holding?" he asked faintly. Riku laughed and shook his head. "No, but it's a good fake, isn't it? It's probably worth about a hundred bucks. Don't worry, I wouldn't steal something like that on a whim." He said flippantly.

Sora narrowed his eyes at Riku. "Hey, are you . . . are you enjoying this?" Riku shrugged and grinned. "Maybe. It's been a long time since I've taken anything. So, this is good practice." Sora regarded him suspiciously. "This isn't gonna become a regular thing with you, is it?"

Riku laughed and shook his head. "No, not if I can help it. Now, let's try that again."

* * *

By the end of the day, Riku had managed to make fifty dollars, take two watches, and take one silver necklace, while Sora only managed to make seven bucks.

Riku laughed good-naturedly as they made their way through the parking lot back to the truck. "Well, at least you were able to get _something_. I'm actually surprised you made that much money on your first try."

Sora hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry." he muttered crossly. "I don't really like stealing from people." Riku grinned and opened the truck doors and hopped into the driver's seat, while Sora got in on the passenger side.

"Aww, don't worry about it. We're doing this the right way; we aren't taking too much from any one person at a time. They'll feel like they just lost whatever we took on the floor of the mall or something." Riku turned the keys in the ignition and the engine roared to life. Sora shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He still didn't like what they were doing.

As the truck trundled down the road, Sora thought about Kairi, and what would happen to her if Axel didn't get the money he was looking for.

Suddenly, he felt much better about pick pocketing.

* * *

I was sitting at the table with my mom, eating some take-out Italian food that she had picked up on her way home from work. I thought that Pence's family might've owned the restaurant, but I wasn't sure which Italian place they owned.

My mom was rambling on about her day, and about how she and her coworkers had gotten raises. I was only half listening to her when there was a knock at the front door.

My mom looked up. "Honey, are you expecting anyone?" she asked curiously. I shook my head. She stood up and walked down the hallway. I continued eating my pasta. I heard her open the door and greet whoever was outside. The other person talked for a moment, but I couldn't understand what was being said.

Suddenly, I heard my mother exclaim "You! What are _you_ doing here?! How dare you show your face around here?" I put my fork down and stood up quickly. I wasn't sure who it was, but I didn't want my mom talking to strangers by herself. Particularly ones that could possibly be a threat.

I left the kitchen and walked slowly down the hallway, trying to see who was at the door. As I got closer, I felt dread build up in my chest. What if it was Axel or someone else equally unpleasant? I got close enough to peer around my mother, who was arguing with the people at the door. And when I saw who those people were, I let out a huge sigh of relief.

Sora and Riku were standing there, looking distressed and trying to convince my mother not to slam the door in their faces. They looked like they were succeeding, but not for long. My mother was very insistently telling them that I wasn't here, and to _get lost_. They were telling her that they knew I was here, because they could see me behind her.

My mom turned around in surprise and mild embarrassment. "Oh, Kairi! I, uh, didn't know you were home." Did I mention that my mother is possibly the worst liar there ever was?

Riku and Sora were trying very hard not to laugh. I shook my head in warning, on the verge of laughter myself. They got the message and quieted down. My mom looked between me and the two of them suspiciously.

"Hey, Mom, can we have a minute?" I asked carefully. She glared first at me, then at the two of them. "Fine. You have sixty seconds." She walked briskly back to the kitchen, unable to keep down the air of disdain she had about her.

I turned to the two boys and grinned. "Hey guys. What's up?" Sora smiled warmly. "Not much with us. How about you?" Riku rolled his eyes and elbowed Sora in the ribs. Sora glared at him, and I couldn't resist chuckling at the two of them. Sora rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at me sheepishly. "Um, we're actually here to ask you if you could hold on to this money for us until tomorrow."

He held out his hand. In it, a wad of bills –mostly fives and ones—was folded up in a plastic bag. My eyes went huge. "Guys, what is this for? Why do I have to keep it for you?" Riku held up his hands. "We just made some extra cash at work, and we don't want to keep it at the hangout, because the others would steal it or something. There is absolutely nothing illegal about any of this. Okay?"

I looked at Sora. He nodded earnestly, and I believed him. I slowly extended my hand, and Sora placed the bag of money in it. He grinned that goofy grin and said "Thanks Kairi. This definitely will help us out. Oh, can we come by tomorrow and take some of it back? We wanted to go buy some more groceries. There's never any edible food at our place." Riku grunted in agreement.

I nodded my head and allowed myself to smile. After all, they had always been honest with me. Why should I start doubting them now? But as I was waving goodbye to them, I couldn't help but feel uneasy. Something in my gut was telling me that something wasn't right.

But they wouldn't lie to me, would they? What could they possibly have to hide?

Nothing, I told myself. You're overreacting.

I shook my head and closed the front door.

* * *

Morning came early for me. I slammed my hand down on my alarm clock and groaned. I never seemed to be able to get enough sleep anymore. Maybe it was the nightmares about Sora and Riku. I sighed and stood up. I worried about those two constantly; how was I supposed to take care of myself if all I ever thought about was them?

I showered and got dressed. My mom was waiting downstairs with breakfast – waffles and orange juice. Yum.

I was digging into my food like a rabid dog when my mom said "Sweetie pie, what did those two want to talk to you about last night? I know I said I wouldn't pry, but I feel I should know something about them."

I internally groaned. If I told her I was holding money for them, she would immediately assume the worst, like they were drug dealers or something. So I told my first lie of the day. "Well, they came by to ask about the homework in math class. That's all. Oh, and they say hello." It sounded false even in my own ears.

My mother regarded me dubiously. "Math homework." She stated slowly. I nodded. "Yep. They just transferred into my class. So, I decided to help them out."

My mom looked at me skeptically. Then she forced a smile and said "Well, uh, I'm glad that you're, um, helping out your fellow classmates." Her voice dropped an octave. "But I still don't like the one with brown hair at all. Be careful around him." I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, Mom. Don't worry about it."

I packed up my stuff and headed for school. It looked like it would be a rainy day, so I took my sweatshirt with me just in case. I reached the safety of the front doors just as it began pouring. I made my way down to my locker and got my stuff for English. I walked into my classroom right as the bell rang, much to my satisfaction. It was the first time in a while that I hadn't been late.

I plopped down in my seat next to Hayner, who was dripping wet. I glanced over at him and grinned. "What, did you get here late or something?" He stared moodily at me. "Shut up. I'm cold, I'm wet, and I missed breakfast." As he was finishing his sentence, the neck of his sweatshirt slipped down, revealing a small, circular bruise.

I stared at it, and then a grin spread across my face. I giggled. "Oooh, Hayner, you and Olette having fun lately?" He stared blankly at me, and then his hand flew up to his sweatshirt to pull it back up. He turned to face forward in his seat, his face nearly the color of my hair.

It was the funniest thing I had seen in a long time.

* * *

The rain seemed to dampen everyone's humor at lunch, even Olette's. I hadn't embarrassed her with the whole hickey thing yet, but it was only a matter of time before I lost my self discipline and ribbed her mercilessly. I looked out the windows near our table and watched the rain come down. The last time it had rained, Roxas had died.

Well, if I hadn't been depressed before, I sure was now. I looked gloomily into the contents of my lunch bag, wishing that the sun would appear. I managed to cheer myself up with thoughts of publicly humiliating two of my friends – in a _nice_ way, okay? – and thoughts of seeing Riku and Sora after school.

There was a feeling of apprehension in the air as Olette ventured a question about the school dance coming up. We all glanced nervously at Namine, but she didn't seem to notice. All she did was smile politely and say "You know, I don't know if I'll go or not. We'll see."

I felt an anvil lift off my chest. I'd worried myself sick that she wouldn't be able to recover, but now I was beginning to think that she might be okay. As long as we kept the Organization as far away from her during the recovery stage as possible.

The bell rang, and we all separated to go to class.

* * *

The rest of the day passed slowly by in a rainy gray blur. It was one of those days where even the teachers wanted to fake sick and go home. When the final bell rang, I couldn't tell if it was the teachers or the students who raced the fastest to get out of there.

I slowly retrieved my belongings, not savoring the idea of walking home for fifteen to twenty minutes through the rain. I zipped up my backpack and stood up, throwing my sweatshirt on over my head. I slammed my locker closed and made my way through the hallways, avoiding the huge puddles on the floor from students' shoes.

I stopped before the door leading outside, looking mournfully out at the sheets of water coming down. I took a deep breath, hugged my sweatshirt close, and threw open the door.

The wind slammed the door into the outside wall and almost ripped my arm off in the process. Swearing quietly to myself, I noted that the drizzle from the morning had turned into an all out downpour. I rolled my eyes and trudged off in the direction of home. Things like this shouldn't surprise me anymore. I mean, the universe just seems to enjoy making me miserable.

As I was exiting the parking lot, a car sped past me. And, of course, I was standing next to a puddle, so I got soaked from had to foot. I just stood there for a few moments, glaring after the car that was rapidly disappearing in the driving rain. Then I just shook my head, thinking that things couldn't really get worse. So the person in charge of the weather decided to let an enormous streak of lightning flash across the sky, lighting up the entire area with a flash of brilliant white.

I stared incredulously at the sky. Really? I mean, _seriously_?

I shook my head and kept walking. After all, I was already soaked, I wasn't the tallest thing in the area, and my mom would be worried if I wasn't home on time. So I defied logic once again for my own stubbornness.

Halfway to my house, another Titanic-sized lightning bolt filled the sky, this time accompanied by the loudest thunderclap I'd ever heard. The ground vibrated under my feet, and I thought I had gone deaf. I stumbled forward, not wanting to get caught by any more supersonic thunder.

I ran the rest of the way home, genuinely freaked out by the storm. A few times I was almost knocked off my feet by huge gusts of wind. I finally made it to my street, almost mistaking my house for someone else's through the water.

I sprinted the last few yards as another thunderclap sounded. This one was so loud my teeth rattled in my head. I fumbled with the lock on the front door for a moment, forgetting how to use the key as more thunder blared. I finally got it open and hurried inside, slamming the door behind me. I slid to the floor, feeling completely exhausted.

I glowered at the ceiling. There was no way Sora and Riku could come here now.

* * *

Sora struggled to see through the windshield of the truck. He sure felt bad for anyone who had to walk home today. He glanced at his watch. Kairi's mom shouldn't be home yet. When he pointed this out to Riku, he stared at him, dumbfounded, and said "You're still planning on going? Do you not see the thunderstorm out the window, or is that just me?"

Sora heaved a sigh. "I'm not blind, Riku. I can see the rain. But I don't want Axel to get mad and think I'm not doing my job. Okay?"

Riku groaned. "Come on, man. There's no way to even see the road. What are you gonna do, walk? 'Cause I'm sure as hell not driving you." Sora said nothing. Riku glanced at him in dismay. "You're kidding me, right?" Sora grinned impishly. "Nope. If you won't drive, I'll walk."

Riku was debating with himself whether he should punch Sora repeatedly or be the better person by controlling his temper. Finally, he said "I can't drive you. I have a job to finish today at the hangout. I can drop you off a few blocks down from her house, but I gotta go after that. Got it?"

Sora smiled triumphantly. "Yeah, no problem. What's a few blocks to walk, anyway?"

As it turned out, Riku's definition of "a few blocks" was actually closer to six blocks. By the time Sora saw Kairi's house come into view, he was thoroughly soaked, covered in grime, and ready to murder Riku. He ran up the last few steps to her house and knocked on the door as lightning raced across the sky, followed by earsplitting thunder.

* * *

I was cowering in the kitchen, trying to drain the water out of my sneakers in the sink. I hadn't changed my sopping wet clothes yet, which was really starting to bother me. I had seen myself in the mirror in the hall, and it turns out that the puddle I'd been splashed with was a mixture of water and some very cold mud. So if I were to come walking down the road, most people would have thought I had been playing rugby or soccer out in the flooded fields by the school.

As I was rubbing some mud away from my eyes, the phone rang. I hurried over to pick it up. My mom was calling to tell me she'd be home late from work, and that she'd probably be staying until around nine. I brightened a little and told her that that was all right with me. It gave me some time to clean up the mess I'd made in the hallway and the kitchen, I added to myself.

I hung up the phone and wandered back to the sink. I was about to start scrubbing off the worst of the dirt when I heard someone knocking at the door. I figured that it had just been my imagination, or the storm outside, or both, but then it started up again.

I put down the dishtowel and walked curiously down the hallway, wondering who would be crazy enough to go out walking in this kind of weather. I pushed some hair off my face and opened the door.

Silhouetted against the lightning and the storm stood Sora, dripping water and mud, looking like he's just run a marathon. I couldn't hide my surprise at seeing him. My mouth dropped open. I had to shout to be heard over the wind. "Sora! What on earth are you doing here? There's a thunderstorm going on!"

He shot me a dirty look. "Uh, yeah, I know." he snapped, gesturing at the weather behind him. He rested his hands on his knees, which I noticed were filthy. Actually, every inch of him was covered in muck. I studied him quizzically as he tried to catch his breath. "You didn't run all the way here, did you?"

He laughed sardonically. "Not _all_ the way here. Just the last six blocks." He muttered something like "a few blocks" and chuckled like it was some kind of joke.

I knit my eyebrows. "What were you thinking? Couldn't the money wait until tomorrow?" He glanced at me and straightened up, his smile fading. "No, I'm afraid it couldn't. See, we need the cash to um—to, uh. . ." he trailed off, struggling to remember something.

I knew something was up, but I didn't really want to know what. "You know, the less I know, the better, right? So why don't you save your excuses and come inside for a minute while I get the stupid money?" I said snappishly. He looked shocked for a moment, but he recovered and came inside, careful to leave his shoes by the door.

I looked at the puddle that was forming around them and sighed in irritation. "Ugh, you'd better bring those to the kitchen. I need to clean everything up anyway." He obediently picked up his oversized gym shoes and followed me to the kitchen, where I took his shoes and dumped them in the sink next to mine. He seemed to notice for the first time that I was also dripping wet and muddy.

He raised his eyebrows at me. "What happened to you? Get in a wrestling match in a pig pen?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, yeah, definitely. I won, by the way." He grinned at me, his teeth oddly white against the grime on his face. "Oh yeah? Who'd you fight, a three year old?" I pulled a face and shoved him playfully.

Then I noticed the splotches of filthy water that were appearing on the floor under us. I was ready to pull my own hair out. My mom was going to kill me if she saw all the water. I ran a hand through my hair, trying to figure out what to do about the mess, and I realized that my hair was utterly nasty at that moment. It was sticky and wet, and probably resembled a red haystack. I should have felt embarrassed about looking like that in front of Sora, but his easygoing presence made everything okay.

"Okay, you know what? My mom is gonna kill me if she finds all this crap everywhere," I said tiredly, gesturing at the floor. "Anyway, she doesn't get home 'til about nine, so why don't you give me your sweatshirt and socks, and I'll wash those with my stuff? I was gonna take a shower, anyway."

Suddenly I realized how that sounded. I immediately blushed a deep crimson, but he didn't seem to notice. He just shrugged and handed me his grubby socks and pulled off his sweatshirt, which sprayed water all over the kitchen. I laughed half-heartedly and grabbed his stuff.

I ran up the stairs, yelling that I would bring down a towel or something for him. I was really glad Sora was such a nice guy. He had the mind set of a flippant ten year old, which usually saved me the embarrassment of double-meaning conversations.

I stripped off my sweatshirt, socks, and my shirt. I had a tank top on underneath, so that didn't worry me too much. I threw our stuff into the washing machine and ran to the bathroom to grab some towels. I tried really hard not to see what I looked like in the mirror.

I ran back down the stairs to the kitchen, finding Sora trying to scrub the dirt off of his shoe in the sink. He was failing miserably, but at least he was trying. I grinned and threw him the towel, which he caught and rubbed over his head. When he pulled it away from his face, the cloth was a different color. He looked at me sheepishly and grinned.

"Sorry. Guess I owe you new towels." He said. I laughed and shook my head. "Don't worry about it. Hey, would you mind if I took a shower really fast? Sorry." He just shrugged and said "Fine by me." I let out a breath and smiled. "Thanks. Sorry, I'll be right back, promise." Leaving him to his scrubbing, I rushed back up the stairs to the bathroom, being extra careful to lock the door behind me.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Hey everybody! Sorry it took me such a long time to update. I had some serious writers block going. XD **

**Anyways, hope you enjoyed it! **

**Review, please.**


	20. Chapter 20

The water felt heavenly as it washed away all the mud and muck that had been splashed on me. The water ran deep shades of brown and black as it went down the drain. It took me nearly a half an hour to get the worst of it out of my hair. When I was finally finished, I felt cleaner than I had in a while. I wrapped myself in a towel, carefully checked down the hallway in both directions, and dashed to my room.

I quickly got dressed, remembering that I still needed to get Sora's money. I pulled it out from where I'd hidden it, tucked the bag into my jeans pocket, and ran back down to the kitchen. Sora had finished cleaning his right shoe, and now he was working on his left one.

I noticed how dirty he actually was, dripping muddy water onto the kitchen floor. He looked uncomfortable and miserable. I heaved a sigh, knowing I would probably regret what I was about to say. "Hey, Sora? I finished up in the bathroom. If you want, you can use it next. You're kinda dripping mud and water all over." He looked up in surprise, and then glanced down at the floor around him.

He laughed. "Yeah, I guess I am. Sorry, I tried to mop it up the best I could with that towel you gave me. But, yeah, a shower would be great." He grinned. "Thanks." I nodded a response, really hoping I wouldn't blush like crazy. So far, it was working. I cleared my throat and said "Uh, no problem. Just leave your clothes in the laundry basket by the bathroom door, okay? I don't want any more mess to clean up." He looked puzzled. "Wait, what'll I wear if you have my stuff?"

I half-smiled. "I have some old stuff of my dad's that would probably fit you. He, um, doesn't really need them anymore."

Sora understood that was a touchy subject, so he didn't pry. I showed him the bathroom, where the towels were, and I handed him some of my dad's old clothes. After that, I discreetly went downstairs and began to attack my shoes with the sponge.

After about ten minutes, I gave up on it. I was probably going to need new shoes. I threw down the sponge in disgust and ran a hand through my hair. It was naturally straight and thick, so it would normally dry well on its own. It was still really damp though, and the air in the kitchen was making my head cold.

I walked out of the kitchen and started up the stairs. I thought that I should probably wash Sora's clothes while I was up there as well. I grabbed a towel out of the closet in the hall and rubbed it over my hair, trying to get most of the moisture out of it. When I was satisfied with that, I turned around and started toward the other end of the hallway.

I dropped my towel into the laundry room hamper, and I was about to run back downstairs when I remembered about Sora's clothes. Mentally smacking my forehead, I turned back around and headed back to the bathroom door. Sure enough, his stuff was at the bottom of the laundry basket, causing a small puddle to form. Sighing, I bent over and picked up the basket and carried it down to the laundry room.

After I had thrown its contents into the washing machine, I spun on my heel and swung the basket around, humming one of my favorite songs. I had just closed the laundry room door behind me and had taken exactly two steps toward the bathroom to replace the basket when the bathroom door opened. I froze.

Sora walked out, and he didn't have a shirt on yet. Thank God he had pants on, or I would have died of embarrassment right there. As it was, my face was a really, really dark shade of red, and my heart had basically stopped. He wasn't super buff, like Riku, but he was by no means out of shape. He was built more like a swimmer than a bodybuilder. He had a light tan, his abs were clearly defined, and his biceps were pretty impressive.

I didn't think he had seen me yet, since he was struggling with the shirt I had given him, so I turned around and tried to silently slip down the hallway and hopefully into a hole in the ground. Unfortunately, he did see me as I was trying to hide, and he called "Hey, Kairi. Um, the shirt you gave me has a huge hole in it. Do you have another one? Sorry."

I took a deep breath before turning around, willing my face to stop being red. "Umm, I think there was another one. Let me check." I ran into my mom's room, hoping that my voice hadn't been as squeaky as it had sounded. I rummaged around for a minute, looking for the oversized flannel shirt my dad used to wear. I found it crumpled up in the corner of a drawer, and I hurried back out to give it to him.

Looking up, he grinned that goofy grin, causing my heart to flutter wildly, and said "Thanks." I nodded and tried to smile in response. "No problem." Okay, he needed to be wearing a shirt in the next five seconds, or I was going to explode.

Thankfully, this one fit him, and it actually suited him. He looked at me and laughed. "So, what do you think?" he asked jokingly. I pretended to consider, finally able to think clearly. "Hmm. I guess you look all right." I mocked. He stuck his tongue out at me, which I thought was adorable.

I chuckled. "Aw, I'm just kidding. You actually look . . . kinda nice." I admitted. He looked down at me and smiled. "You think so?" he asked. I nodded. "Yeah. You do." He ran a hand through his hair a little awkwardly. "Um, I think you look nice too."

I glanced up at him in surprise, and then I laughed. "What? No you don't. I look like crap right now." He suddenly turned serious. He studied me intently, which unnerved me a little. Finally he said "Kairi, you shouldn't say that about yourself. You always look great. Always." He said vehemently.

I shifted uncomfortably. What the heck was I supposed to say to that? "Uh, um, thank you." I stuttered. "But I really don't look good right now. I mean, just look at me!" I laughed nervously. He tilted his head to one side, his face completely blank. "I am looking at you. And I think you look beautiful." With that, he leaned forward and planted a kiss on my lips.

I couldn't move at all. My eyes were wide open, and my brain short-circuited. I felt like I couldn't breathe. All I could take in was the feeling of his fingers running through my hair and the smell of soap that still lingered on his skin. He gave me a quick peck on the cheek and pulled back, noting my apparent shock. He looked vaguely amused. His lips curled back in a smirk that, for a terrifying moment, looked just like Axel's.

And then the lights went out, followed by a thundering _boom_.

* * *

Riku was pacing back and forth in his room at the Organization hangout. He glanced at the clock. It was almost six. Where was Sora?

He flopped back onto the bed behind him, wondering what could be taking so long. He hoped that Sora hadn't done something stupid and gotten himself trapped outside in the storm, which had progressively gotten worse after Sora had left.

Riku sighed and passed a hand over his eyes. He got up and wandered out into the hallway, hoping that he could find some edible food in the kitchen. Larxene was there, munching her way through a bag of chips and a pint of ice cream. Her cravings had recently started causing her to be violent until she got what she wanted. And no one in the Organization wanted a pregnant, angry Larxene on their hands.

Her vivid green eyes snapped to Riku as he entered the kitchen. He thought she looked almost . . . _happy_. Larxene was almost never happy, not unless she was causing pain or about to get her way. She smiled sweetly at him as he opened the fridge and poked around the contents.

He didn't like that she was smiling at him. That was never a good thing. "Umm . . . what?" he asked suspiciously. She cocked her head to one side, like his question puzzled her. "Hmm? Oh, nothing." she chirped. "You're just always so nice to me, that's all."

Riku stood there awkwardly, not having any clue how to deal with a nice Larxene. Her behavior was downright bizarre. She grinned at him, green eyes glittering. "Yeah. You never hit me, or called me mean names, or tried to take my stuff away, or told me to get rid of the baby, or – or--" she hiccupped, and to Riku's amazement, tears were forming in her eyes.

He shifted his weight from foot to foot, not knowing what to do. He took a step forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Uh, don't worry. It'll be okay." He said slowly. "Um, if you want me to get Axel, or--"

Larxene's eyes flashed. She knocked his hand away and glared at him. "I'm fine. What would I want _him_ for?" she spat. "That useless, no-good, stupid bastard can't do anything. Hah, yeah, like I would want to see him right now. Hey, where's Sora? He's always hanging out with you. He was always nice to me – nicer than _you_. Well? Where is he?" she snapped.

Riku backed away carefully, not wanting to aggravate her any more. Her mood swings had gotten worse as well. He held his hands up defensively and said "Look, I don't know where he is right now. But I can go look for him, okay?"

She threw her hands up in frustration. "Ugh. Just get out of my sight. I can't stand seeing you anymore!" Her lower lip trembled, and she suddenly burst into tears. Riku knew better than to try and help. He made a hasty exit and ended up in the front room. He sat himself down on the couch and stared out the newly repaired window. It had taken him three days to get the new panel of glass to fit. The bullets had blasted a hole in the wall and in the couch as well, but he hadn't gotten around to fixing them yet.

He sighed and stared out at the storm. The trees were whipping back and forth like they were caught in a hurricane. He leaned his head back against the couch and thought about the brief letter he had gotten from the TTDC earlier that week. He could still see Seifer's bold handwriting jumping off the page.

_Riku, you've always been a pretty level-headed guy. So you can understand why we were at your place the other night. Xigbar was the target, not the kid who left you guys. We didn't see him outside. We're really pissed off at ourselves over that. We really are. We're sorry for your loss and everything. We were just trying to get "an eye for an eye," if you know what I'm saying. But we didn't mean to hurt the kid, and we're sorry. _

_ The TTDC_

He remembered his vision blurring behind angry tears and a red wall of fury. He also remembered that he wasn't a killer, and that there was nothing he could do about it otherwise. He had thrown the note away, not wanting the others to see it. That would have started an all-out war, which would have gotten the whole town involved.

He sighed. At seventeen, he was already involved in politics, keeping the town safe. He couldn't go trying to get revenge on the other gang. He had to be the level-headed one, like the note said. If he didn't, then no one else would.

He wondered what Kairi and Sora were doing.

Suddenly, lightning flashed, followed by what sounded like an explosion, and the ramshackle house went dark.

* * *

Okay. So here was what my line of thought was like after the lights went out: It's dark. Sora smirked like Axel. I hate the dark. What the hell just happened? And, finally, _Oh dear God I'm locked in my house in the dark with Sora and my mom is gonna kill me. _

So, it was pretty safe to say I was a little freaked out.

No matter how wide I opened my eyes, I couldn't see a thing. "Sora?" I called tentatively. "I'm here." He said uncertainly. "Did the wind take out a power line?" he asked. I shrugged, and then I remembered he couldn't see me. "Yeah, I guess. Can you see anything?"

I heard him moving around, and then he walked right into me. He caught my arm before I could fall over. "Whoa, sorry, my bad. Uh, no, I can't see anything. Are you okay?" I straightened up and laughed. "Yeah, I'm okay. Actually, I think we have candles in the kitchen. Would you mind coming with me to get them?"

He laughed. "Not at all. I couldn't let you kill yourself going down the stairs, could I?" He laughed again. I rolled my eyes and realized the effect was useless. "I'm rolling my eyes at you right now." I said sarcastically. He chuckled. "Good to know."

So I turned and headed toward the stairs. But, because the universe is ultimately trying to kill me, my foot missed the top step and I almost fell face first down the stairs. Luckily, Sora was right behind me, and he grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me back. I could hear Sora sigh in exasperation. "Seriously, you have the worst luck of anyone I've ever met." he muttered. After that, we just held on to each other's shirts and very slowly inched down the stairs.

We made it all the way to the end of the hall when lightning lit up the windows, and I could see everything clearly. I dashed forward and grabbed the matches and candles off the table, reaching them just before everything went dark again. I smiled triumphantly.

"I got it!" I shouted. I immediately set about striking the matches and lighting three large candles. The only reason I didn't bother looking for a flashlight was because my mom claimed that flashlights could draw aliens to your presence.

Just don't ask.

I blew out the match and looked around the room in the newly adjusted light. Sora stood by the door, looking dazed and tired. Other than that, everything looked the same. I walked over to the windows and pulled back the curtain. It was useless trying to see clearly into the yard; the wind and rain mixed with the dark made it nearly impossible.

I let the curtain fall back into place. I glanced at Sora. "Hey, how are you going to get home? My mom can't find you here. And I don't think that riding my bike is a good idea. Can anyone come pick you up?"

He thought for a minute. "Yeah. I can see if Riku can pick me up." He walked over to the phone and picked it up before realizing that the power was out. He replaced the phone and looked at me sheepishly. "Uh, can I borrow your cell phone for a second?" I grinned at him and tossed him my phone. He caught it and started punching in numbers. After a few rings, I could hear someone on the other line pick up and say "Hello?"

Sora turned away from me. "Hey, Riku. Um, can I get a ride back to base? The power is out over here, and her mom will be home around nine." He waited for a minute, and suddenly exclaimed "What? How did a tree – yeah, I know _how_ it would've fallen. Are you sure you can't get the garage open? Aw, come on. That sucks. Is the power out there too? Yeah, it went out like five minutes ago."

He glanced at me briefly and went back to staring into space. "So you think the whole town lost power at the same time?" Silence. "Hello? Riku, you there? Hello?" More silence. Finally, Sora hung up the phone and handed it back to me. I furrowed my eyebrows. "What happened?"

He looked like he didn't know whether to laugh or hit something. "Well, a tree was blown over at the hangout, and it crushed part of the garage. Only the Mustang and the truck aren't scrap metal. It sounds like the whole town lost power at the same time. I think the storm is interfering with the cell phone service. Oh, and I can't get a ride, and there's a sever storm watch until three am." he finished.

I was thunderstruck. The whole town had lost power? And if a tree was going to keep Sora from getting home, why couldn't it have crushed Axel's Mustang? Ugh.

Suddenly I started giggling. Nothing was funny, but I just couldn't resist the urge to burst out into hysterical laughter. I clutched at my side and grasped the edge of the table for support. Sora looked at me like I was totally insane. "Um, Kairi? What are you laughing at?"

Between giggles, I looked over at him and said "Oh, it's just that you're stuck here, and my mom is gonna be home soon, and she's going to flay us alive, that's all." I laughed some more. "Oh man, she's gonna kill you." More giggles.

He stared at me. "That isn't exactly a reason to laugh. Your mom hates me enough already; I don't want to get you into any more trouble." He looked so guilty about it that I suddenly felt bad about making _him_ feel bad. I dropped into a chair at the table and rested my chin on my fists. "Aw, don't feel bad. This isn't your fault. I mean, if you could control the weather, that would be a different story."

He sat down in the chair opposite me. "Yeah, but I still could have just stayed home. And now I'm stuck here, bothering you." I just put my hands on the table and smiled at him. "You aren't bothering me. I'm actually kinda happy you showed up, otherwise I would have been stuck in the dark by myself. And heaven knows that I need all the help I can get when it comes to navigating in the dark."

He grinned and leaned back in his seat. "Yeah, you do need all the help you can get." I feigned indignation and crossed my arms. "Ex-ca-use _me_." I drawled. "I don't have any idea what you're talking about."

He laughed and held up his hands defensively. "Hey, you may not like it, but it's the truth. You would have done an epic face plant if I hadn't been there to catch you." I made a face at him and grinned. "Yeah, you're probably right."

The both of us spent the next while telling stories and jokes. Sora told me about earlier days in the Organization; back when they all had some semblance of sanity. Some of his stories were about Roxas and Riku pulling off some pranks or whatever. I told him about my old house, and my old school, and about my old best friend Selphie, who I hadn't heard from since I'd moved.

He listened intently to every word I said, only interjecting every so often. When I finished the last story I had about my school, I sat back in my chair and smiled. "So, yeah, that's about it. Everything you need to know about me, right there." He was silent for a moment.

"Not everything. You didn't say anything about your dad. He must be the nicer one – it seems like you get all your violent tendencies from your mother." he chuckled. "She seems like she would wrestle a bear for you."

I smiled quietly to myself, thinking it over. "She normally wouldn't hurt a fly. She just doesn't like you." I grinned.

He nodded in agreement. "No doubt about that. But you didn't answer my question about your dad. What was he like? Where is he now?" I felt my smile become strained. Forcing a laugh, I said "Like hell if I care. Last I saw him, he was begging my mom not to leave him."

Sora didn't react. "What happened?"

I shook my head and smiled wryly. "I don't get my anger problems from my mom. He used to hit her all the time when he lost his temper, and then he'd apologize the next day and tell her how much he loved her. He even bought her a new car once to say sorry. It wasn't until he started beating on me instead that she decided to leave him. So, yeah."

He didn't say anything. He sat there for a long time looking at me, and then he came around to my side of the table and gave me a hug. "I'm really sorry, Kairi. I had no idea." I just laughed. "Hey, don't worry about it. It was a long time ago. I have nothing to complain about." I gently pushed him away from me and smiled at him. "Really, I'm okay. Okay?" He nodded and sat down next to me.

After a minute, we had returned to happier conversation. But that was cut short when I heard a car pulling into the driveway over the rain. Our eyes widened, and Sora said "Oh, holy crap. What do we do?"

I thought rapidly, trying not to panic. Suddenly a light bulb flashed in my mind. A grin stretched across my face, and I said "I think I have an idea."

* * *

**A/N:**

**Hey everyone. I got this chapter up pretty fast!**

**Anyways, hope you liked it!**

**Let me hear your opinions. Review, please!**

**Have a great day. 3**


	21. Chapter 21

I was lying in my bed curled up with a book when my mom quietly opened the door. I had brought two more candles up to my room so I could see where I was going. She stuck her head around the door and smiled at me. "Hi, sweetie. I'm so sorry I got home so late. It was a nightmare at work today, and the power outage sure didn't help anyone. Did you manage all right? No flashlights, right?"

I looked up from my book and smiled. "Yeah. Everything was great here. No problems at all. Other than the lights going out, anyway." My mother grinned happily. "Oh, good. Anyways, I'm going to hit the sack early, so I'm saying goodnight. Good night, honey! Love you!"

I waved and said "Love you too. Night." She gently closed the door behind her and walked down the hallway. I kept pretending to read until I could hear snores emanating from her room.

I let out a breath. I crawled over to the edge of my bed and stuck my head over the side. Hanging upside down, I looked under my bed and said "All right Sora. You can come out now." I quickly pulled back and sat up as Sora rolled out from underneath.

He lay on his back for a few moments, listening to my mom's snoring. After he was positive that she wouldn't be barging in any time soon, he grinned and relaxed. He glanced at me and said "Well, I have to admit, that was a smart idea on your part. I would've just sat in the tree until she was gone." He laughed quietly.

I flopped onto my stomach and smiled. "That would have been a pretty bad idea on _your_ part, I think. The wind is supposed to get up to fifty miles per hour tonight." I couldn't resist giggling. "You would've ended up falling flat on your face, I just know it." I whispered, trying not to wake up my mom.

He sat up and grimaced. "No thanks. I'd prefer to keep from being a pancake for as long as possible." I shook my head and rolled onto my back to stare at the ceiling. "Yeah, I don't think falling two stories would be very fun."

I could hear him shifting around behind me. "No, probably not. Besides, I hear that pancakes are horrible kissers." I sat up very quickly and glanced warily at him. I could see him trying really hard not to laugh in the gloom. He pointed at me and said "You should've seen your face! It was priceless." I rolled my eyes and let myself fall back onto my bed. "Wow, real mature, Sora." I teased. He pretended to look hurt. "I'm mature!" he fake-whined.

His tone sounded so ridiculous that I couldn't keep a straight face. I started cracking up, and I ended up laughing into a pillow to keep quiet. When I had made sure that I wasn't going to laugh any more, I playfully tossed the pillow at Sora, who had his back turned to me. He immediately whipped around and caught it easily, which surprised me. He had good reflexes.

I gave a mock whistle of admiration. "Hey, nice catch. Did you expect it to be a bomb or something?" He grinned, but it was half-hearted. "No, I didn't. It's just that old habits die hard. You never know what people are going to throw at you when your back is turned, particularly in the Organization." he explained. I just nodded, not wanting to talk about the Organization or any of its hazards.

I glanced at the clock. I had totally lost track of time, and I had school tomorrow. And, unfortunately for him, so did Sora. I glanced back at him and said "Hey, its getting late. I don't know about you, but I need to get some sleep. Okay?" He just smiled and shrugged. "Fine by me. It's your house; you make the rules." He stood up and looked around the room. The storm was still raging outside my window.

He looked a bit uncomfortable. "Um, can I stay here tonight? I'll sleep under the bed or in the closet or whatever." For whatever reason, I was totally fine with him staying overnight. Maybe it was because he'd stayed over once already. Hmm.

I shrugged. "Yeah, that's fine. Here, I think I have some extra pillows and blankets in the closet." I quietly got up and left the room. I got the pillows and blankets out of the hallway closet and brought them back to my room. I set them up to resemble a comfy bed on the floor by the closet, angled away from the door so that my mom wouldn't be able to see it if she stuck her head in the door to check on me.

I nodded in satisfaction and looked at Sora. "Well, there you have it." I said grandly. "A bed fit for a . . . golden retriever." I tried to keep a straight face, but it didn't work.

He rolled his eyes at me. "Oh, yeah, thank you. Hey, I got to stay in the nice, _normal_ bed last time." he complained. I raised an eyebrow at him. He didn't mean any harm, but it still was super inappropriate for him to share a bed with me. I shook my head and smiled a bit smugly. "Nope. Not happening. Sorry. It's the dog bed for you. That, or you could sleep outside in the tree, if you prefer."

He seemed to struggle a bit with that one. He glanced out the window at the raging storm and then back at me. He sighed and said "Okay, okay. You got it, princess."

I froze. "What did you just call me?" My sudden reaction seemed to puzzle him. He stared blankly at me and said "What? Oh, you mean 'princess'?"

Shivers went down my spine. All I could see when anyone called me _princess _was Axel's smirking face. "Don't call me that. Ever. Okay?" I felt bad for getting mad at him like that, but I couldn't help it. It had scared me. He looked even more confused, but now the confusion was mingled with concern. "Okay, I won't call you that. I'm sorry. Um, are you all right?"

I forced a smile and nodded. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine. Just call me by my name, okay? Sorry, it just bugs me when people give me nicknames." He knew that there was more to it, but he didn't say anything.

I walked over to my bed and sat down. Without looking at him I said "Well, I gotta get some rest. You should probably do the same, okay?" He shrugged and went to the makeshift bed in the corner. "Okay. Bed time it is." He plopped down and pulled off his shirt, which immediately caused me to blush eight different shades of red and turn away. He let himself fall back into the pillows, pulling the blanket over him.

"All right, then. G'night, Kairi." He yawned once, then stretched out and closed his eyes. Within ten seconds, his breathing evened out, and he was asleep.

My eyebrows were up near my hairline. How could anyone possibly fall asleep so fast? It just wasn't normal. I shook my head and burrowed my way under the covers. When I was comfortable, I smiled sarcastically at myself. Then again, what would I know about normal? The answer is, not much.

After a few minutes of listening to Sora's regular breathing, I felt my entire body relax, and the last thought that crossed my mind was _this is really nice. _

* * *

The sound of branches hitting my window woke me up. I sleepily opened my eyes and looked at the clock – 2:43 in the morning. Ugh. I swept my gaze over my room, and I saw someone sleeping on the floor. I jolted into consciousness, not remembering what was going on.

I sat bolt upright in my bed and realized that it was Sora. I relaxed, my heart rate coming down a few thousand beats per second. I took a deep breath and lay back in bed, hoping to get quickly back to sleep.

As I was just settling back in, I heard something like whimpering. Feeling slightly annoyed, I sat back up and waited for the sound again. Nothing happened for several moments, but when I heard it again, I realized that it wasn't whimpering. I quietly got to my feet and padded across the floor, trying to see Sora's face. When I looked to se if he was crying or not, I was surprised to see that he was sound asleep.

I stood there for a moment, wondering what had made that sound, when Sora started mumbling in his sleep. "No, no, no. Stop." I froze, thinking he was talking to me at first, but then I realized he was dreaming. Curious, I took a step closer, trying to make out his words more clearly.

"Stop it. Leave her alone. She didn't. . ." the rest of his sentence was a lot of muttering, so quiet that I couldn't make it out. He began to shift around uncomfortably, like he was trying to move around in his dream. "Stop. You can't. No, don't. . ."

He became agitated. He was tossing and turning, and I realized that he was having some kind of horrible nightmare. When he spoke again, he was distressed. "Get away, leave her alone. Stop . . . No!" He was breaking out in a sweat, and his face was contorted pain. His eyebrows were drawn together tightly.

Panicking, I knelt down next to him. I wanted to wake him up quickly and quietly. I was scared of whatever it was that he was seeing that was making him react like this. There wasn't a lot that I knew of that could scare him, so whatever he was dreaming about had to be absolutely horrible.

"Sora, Sora, please wake up!" I whispered frantically. "Sora, please!" When he didn't respond, I reached out to shake his shoulder.

The second my fingers made contact with his skin, his eyes snapped open, and his arm shot up. His strong fingers wrapped tightly around my neck, and I was forced backwards until my head connected with the floor, all in the blink of an eye.

When I opened my eyes, I was shocked to see Sora's animalistic expression. His lips were curled back in a snarl, and his eyes were dangerous blue slits. He looked like he was going to kill somebody – and judging by the way his hand was restricting the air flow to my lungs, he might kill me.

Then his expression suddenly changed from one of pure hatred to one of shock and fear as he realized who he was choking. He immediately released his hold on me and sat back, his eyes wide. I gasped and coughed, feeling extremely lightheaded as I struggled to sit up. I never knew how wonderful breathing could feel. I tried to take a deep breath and nearly inhaled my own tongue, which caused me to cough harder.

Sora came forward on his hands and knees, looking mortified. "Oh my god, are you okay? Oh god I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to – I didn't know--" he stopped, unable to convey his thoughts properly. I still couldn't breathe very well, so I just nodded.

"I-I'm ok—ay," I rasped. I wasn't really telling the truth; my throat was on fire, the back of my head throbbed, and my neck killed. I brought my hand up to feel the area his hand had covered. His hands were much bigger than mine, so his one hand had fit almost all the way around my neck. I could almost feel his fingers crushing my windpipe.

I started coughing again. When he reached out with one hand, I involuntarily flinched. He quickly withdrew his arm, guilt written all over his face. I carefully took some deep breaths, trying to regain control over myself. Sora pulled back and sat with his back against the wall. He kept murmuring "I'm so sorry," over and over again.

When I was sure I was all right, I turned to look at him. Even in the dim light, I could see the pain in his eyes. He hated the fact that he had hurt me.

I didn't know what to do. I didn't want him to beat himself up over it, but I wasn't all right with the fact that he had nearly strangled me. So I just sat there for a while, staring at anything but him. He was hyper aware of my every movement, trying to see what I would do. I was kinda hoping that I would figure out what I would do, too.

Finally, I couldn't take the silence. I made myself look right at him. "Um, I know that you didn't mean to do that. But, uh, why _did_ you do that? Do you always wake up that way?" I was only half kidding. He stared at his hands, as if willing them to disappear.

"No, I don't. I didn't. I mean, it's like a reflex. I would never try to hurt you." He sounded so sincere, like he genuinely hated himself for hurting me. I know it was stupid, but I felt a bit bad for him. "No, I know you didn't try to hurt me. But, honestly, what made you do that? What were you dreaming about?"

He ran a hand through his hair and stared at the floor. "It was nothing." He muttered.

I didn't know whether I wanted to hit him or not. I made myself scoot closer to him, so that I was looking him in the eyes. "Sora. You looked and acted like you were gonna kill someone. I want to know what made you so upset. Please tell me?"

He looked torn, like he wanted to tell me out of guilt or just shrug it off at the same time. "I . . . it was just this nightmare that I get sometimes. That's all," he said quietly.

That didn't cut it. I tentatively raised my hand to his face and touched his cheek. His eyes closed, and I thought he had gone back to sleep when he opened them again and looked right at me. I half smiled and said "I'm not angry at you, Sora. I want to help you."

He took a deep breath. All was silent for a minute, and then he said "This dream, it isn't something you want to hear." I studied him for a moment and drew back my hand. "Yeah, I do." I said softly. "Please."

He looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. "Fine." He muttered. "I'll tell you. But tell me if you want me to stop or whatever, okay?" I nodded. "Okay."

"Okay. So I'm out in the street, by the hangout. Someone's lit it on fire. The gang is outside, and they don't care about the hangout. They're bored and looking for something to do. There are a lot of people near them from town, but they don't notice them. Then they see, well, you, and everything changes. They go crazy and blame you for burning the house, and they all rush at you at once. I'm there, and so is Riku, but the people from town are holding us back, and we can't help you.

"We try to get past them, but they're too strong. We yell at the others, but they don't listen. You disappear, and I know that bad stuff is happening to you. Then it's like the people from town form a circle around us, and they turn into big glass windows. Riku disappears, and I'm stuck inside the wall of glass. Then I'm trying to look for you, but I can't see you. And then I can see Roxas and Namine on the other side of the wall. They see me, they know you're in trouble, and Namine is crying, but they tell me sorry, we can't do anything.

"So I yell and beg and swear, but they just shake their heads and fade away. Then I'm alone in this big white room, and Namine is there. And she just says . . . she . . ." he had to stop for a second before continuing. "She says 'You let it happen again.' That's all she can say. Then she's gone and I see myself in this mirror, and I hate it, and then I always wake up."

He looked at the floor. "You woke me up at the part where I yell at Namine and Roxas." He looked me in the eyes, and I saw tears forming. "I'm so sorry, Kairi. I'm so sorry."

I sat back in astonishment. He had nightmares about me? And Namine and Roxas? I regarded him quietly as he tried to hide the tears that were rolling down his cheeks.

I shifted closer to him so that I could put my arms around him. It was a bit strange, me comforting him. He was the six foot tall, always cheerful, fun guy who always made me feel better. I was the five foot six, unlucky, new girl who needed all the help she could get. When I had comforted Riku, it had been different; when someone dies, anybody could give you a hug and say sorry. This seemed more personal.

I don't know how long we stayed like that. But after a while, he had stopped crying and was running his fingers through my hair. I was just sitting there, not wanting to leave him there, but also feeling really tired.

He must have noticed, because at around four in the morning he steered me in the direction of my bed and pulled the blankets over me. Then he went back to his makeshift bed on the floor and went to sleep. I didn't take long to do the same.

* * *

**A/N: **

**Hey everyone. Here it is. **

**Sorry to take so long – again. XD **

**In the next chapter, there will be thickening of plots, evil scheming, and a side of high school romance.**

**Review if you want it up fast!!!**


	22. Chapter 22

My alarm went off _way_ too early. I slammed my hand down on the snooze button and willed the world to go away. But luckily for me, I remembered that I had to wake Sora up before my mom did – otherwise civilization as we know it would end.

Just kidding. Sort of.

I sat up and rubbed at my eyes, trying to wake up. I blinked and looked for Sora. He was still in the corner, asleep on the pillows. I felt terrible about it, but I was scared to try and wake him up again. I sat there for a moment, unsure of how to go about getting him to awaken. So I did something that seemed completely reasonable: I picked up my pillow and chucked it at his head.

It hit him with a resounding _whap_, and he jumped so badly that he would've fallen right out of a normal bed. Good thing his bed was level with that of most Chihuahuas'. He sat up and glared sleepily at me. "Wha' timizzit?" he mumbled. I smiled at him, a little relieved.

"It's 6:15. We have to get going. Okay?" I asked. He groaned and let himself fall back on the pillows. "Do we have to go to school today?" he muttered. I laughed. "Uh, yeah, we do. I have three tests. And you have to leave the house before my mom knows you're here. Got it?" He didn't respond. After a second I heard snores.

"Sora!" I chided. He stopped snoring, but he still didn't get up. I raised an eyebrow and got out of bed. I walked over to him and nudged him with my toe. "Come on. You have to get up." All I got out of that was something like "Mehhh. Ugh." Frowning slightly, I pulled my leg back and kicked him. Not hard, mind you, but it was enough to get his attention.

Finally he sat up, grumbling to himself. He rubbed at one of his eyes and blinked sleepily at me.

I studied him for a minute. "You feeling better?" I asked tentatively. He ran a hand through his hair and nodded, still half asleep. I grinned. "Well, that's good. I was worried there for a while." I took a step away from him and stretched, loosening up my stiff shoulder muscles. I sat back down on my bed and rolled my head from side to side, wondering why my neck still hurt so badly.

Sora seemed to become fully conscious. He stared at me and swore at himself. "Jesus, Kairi. I'm so, so sorry. God, I'm a freaking idiot. I didn't mean to do that."

I frowned. "What are you talking about?" I sat closer to the edge of the bed and pulled my knees up to my chest. "We already went over this. I know you didn't mean to hurt me. So, everything's cool now, alright?" He shook his head. "No, I'm sorry about _that_." he said, pointing at me. "Does it hurt?"

I had no clue what he was talking about. "Huh?" He sighed, trying to be patient. "Go to the bathroom, look in the mirror, and make sure your mom doesn't see you." I cocked my head to one side, still a bit befuddled, but I got up anyway and went to the bathroom.

I closed the door behind me and locked it, making sure my mom couldn't come in. When I turned around to look in the mirror, I nearly screamed. I clamped my hand over my mouth and stared, wide-eyed, at the faded handprint circling around my neck. I lowered my hand and slowly stretched out my neck, trying to see how far around it went. And sure enough, it almost went all the way around.

I started freaking out. I know he didn't mean it, but how was I supposed to hide this? This wasn't a hicky or a zit, it was a freaking _handprint_. What the hell was I supposed to do about it? What would everyone at school say? What would my friends think? The teachers would think I was a victim of child abuse or something. I couldn't do that to my mom again.

Oh, god. What would my _mom_ say? I held my hand up to the mark. Well, at least no one would think I had choked myself. The bruise was way too big to have come from me, or my mom, for that matter.

I groaned and stared at myself in the mirror. The girl I saw had a hand-shaped bruise on her neck, was lying to everyone she cared about, had too many problems. For one overwhelming instant, I had no idea who I really was.

I wanted it all to go away. I couldn't deal. So, being the rational, sane person that I am, I got mad. I mean, I was _pissed_.

I stormed out of the bathroom and burst into my room. Sora was sitting there, pulling on a shirt and his shoes that I had hidden in my closet. Unfortunately for him, he was the closest living thing to me at that moment, so he was going to get the full sting of my little rant.

"Sora, do you see this?! I look like I was a victim of child abuse or something! My mom is going to freak! I don't know what I'm gonna tell her, or my friends, or teachers, or anyone. I can't even cover it with my hair or makeup. I mean, look what you did to me!" On the last words, angry tears sprang up. Furious, I brushed them away.

"What am I supposed to do about this, huh? I can't let anyone see it. What, what on earth, I mean, what do you think I should do? Can you tell me that? Or are you too busy with your little band of thugs to care about me? Does Axel leave bruises all over Larxene? Huh? Are you trying to be like him now? Hah, I'd really love to see that! Why don't you just go—hey!"

Sora had gotten up from his seat on the floor and had put his arms around me. I'm ashamed to say that I tried to hit his arms away, tried to push him back. I even tried to slap him. But luckily for him, he was much taller and stronger than me, so he had no problem catching my arms and pinning them to my sides. Then he just stood there, not saying a word, holding me tightly to his chest.

I struggled mightily for a while, but the anger slowly drained out of me, leaving nothing but weariness behind. After about five minutes, I totally relaxed. I was too exhausted and mortified to do anything but tremble slightly.

Sora looked down at my face and slowly let me go. I took a step away form him and crossed my arms, not knowing what to say. He watched me for a moment, and then he went back to dressing for school.

I just watched as he finished pulling on his shirt and laced up his shoes. I felt like a marble statue. Finally, he looked back at me, finding me rooted to the same spot. He smiled a little sadly and said. "Are you all right now?" I nodded. He smiled a little bigger. "Good. Well, we should probably find you a hoodie sweatshirt or something to cover your neck. Do you have anything like that?" He spoke slowly and clearly, like he was addressing someone really young or mentally challenged.

I nodded again and went to my closet. I pulled out my favorite oversized gray sweatshirt and held it up to him, like a little kid doing show and tell. He nodded. "That should work." he said a little too brightly. "Do you want me to go home so you can get ready for school?"

I thought about it, and I nodded slowly. He smiled warmly at me and waved. "All right, then. I'll see you later." He turned and was about to climb out the window when I blurted "I'm sorry."

He stopped. I felt like I had to say more. "I'm sorry that I was so mean to you, I'm sorry I said all that stuff about you, I'm sorry I hit you, and I'm sorry I got mad at you in the first place. Sorry." It all came rushing out so fast that I couldn't stop myself. Immediately after I finished my apology, I felt incredibly stupid and vulnerable.

He turned around and looked at me. I couldn't read his expression. "Don't worry about it." he said. "I should be apologizing to you, not the other way around. You have every right to be mad, I get it. But give a guy a little warning next time, okay?" He smiled easily, and suddenly all the tension was gone.

I looked at the clock. Crap. It was late; I had to get to school. And so did he. I glanced at him and smiled. "Thanks Sora. Really. But I still have to get ready for school. So, I'll see you later?"

He grinned. "Definitely."

* * *

After he left, I moved at a hundred miles an hour to get all my stuff put together. I dispensed with the shower, seeing as I had taken one the day before, and that saved me some time. I inhaled a bagel, drank down a glass of water, brushed my teeth, and said a quick goodbye to my mother, who was still waking up when I was leaving. She hadn't noticed a thing.

It was apparent that the storm did some major damage as I walked to school. Trees had been uprooted, branches were everywhere, and debris was scattered all over the place. I shook my head in wonder as I passed by a car that had a pine tree on top of it.

I was lucky that the tree outside my window hadn't been knocked into the house, or I would have had to find a new place to sleep.

I was early to school, to my vast surprise. Most of the other kids were late to school because wreckage and fallen trees were blocking the road. When I slid into my seat in English first period, about ten kids were in the class. Hayner was one of them. I was careful to pull my sweatshirt tighter when I sat next to him.

The morning progressed, and more students came filing in, giving excuses about the weather. Hayner never noticed the bruises, to my relief. We chatted for a while, and then class ended, and we said goodbye until lunch.

My morning was boring and dull, a usual. The students who shared that opinion consoled themselves with the fact that it was a Thursday, and that tomorrow would be a Friday. But even that didn't take the edge off of the lecture on electromagnetic configuration. Ugh. Just the name makes me want to go to sleep.

Finally, lunch came around. I walked toward the cafeteria with some trepidation, not wanting to possibly alert my friends to the problems I was having.

Namine was already there. She was demurely munching on a sandwich, doodling on the cover of a notebook. I sat down in my usual spot and said hello. She looked up and smiled at me, which made me happy. It was rare that she genuinely smiled anymore.

"What's up, Namine?" I said. She shrugged. "Not much. How about you? Anything new going on?" I shrugged as well, careful not to jostle the neck of my sweatshirt too much. "No, not really."

_Liar_. I laughed nervously, feeling guilty for some reason.

She smiled. "Well, that's good, because Olette made plans for the three of us to go shopping for dresses to wear to the dance coming up." I froze mid-bite, but tried to hide it by quickly stuffing the entire sandwich in my mouth.

She looked a bit puzzled. "Um, are you all right, Kairi?" I looked away and nodded, trying not to choke on my food. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." I stuttered. "I, uh, didn't know you were, um, planning on going. I'm happy you decided to go, though."

Her smile became a little strained. "Yeah. I am too. My brother says it would be good for me, you know? Have some new experiences, create new memories. Good memories." She looked a little unsure of her own words, but she grinned and said "Pence is offering to bring me with him as his date. Just as friends and stuff. Doesn't that sound fun?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it actually does. Are we all going as a big group?" She laughed and said "Of course! That's the plan we've had for weeks now." I grinned. "Awesome. Well, I don't have a date, so this works great for me." I took a bite of my cookie. She frowned.

"You don't have a date? That can't be possible. You're so pretty and smart! Man, the guys at this school must be blind or something." I laughed agreeably. I wasn't about to mention the guy that I wanted to ask me out. Even I wasn't that stupid.

I went back to stuffing my face. Namine sighed contentedly and resumed doodling on her notebook. After a moment, I became curious as to what she was drawing, so I leaned over a little to see it. It was a miniature version of the school, and it was really impressive. I was about to tell her that when she reached up with her left hand to push her hair behind her ear, and the sleeve of her long-sleeved shirt inched down her wrist.

I felt myself go numb.

Exposed there, about a finger's breadth away from her palm, were several angry red lines, four in all.

I felt a twinge of panic. I blinked and tried to calm down. There was probably a reasonable explanation for those marks. I forced myself to take another bite of food before I casually leaned over again and inspected the drawing.

"Wow, that's really good." I complimented. "I swear, you get better at art every day. I'm starting to feel like a total loss around you!" I grinned to show that I was just kidding. She smiled and put more hair behind her ear. "Thank you." She laughed. I nodded. "Don't mention it." I pretended to glance at her wrist for the first time. "Hey, what happened to your wrist? It's all scratched."

She looked surprised, then embarrassed as she almost unconsciously tugged her sleeve down. "Oh, that? My dog scratched me yesterday." She shrugged a little sheepishly. I raised an eyebrow, saying nothing. She smiled and waved her right hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine."

I smiled back at her and said "Okay." But as she carefully began to put away her belongings, I felt the grin slide off my face. I was probably being over-protective, but somehow I just wasn't sure. I quietly continued eating my lunch.

Soon after that, Olette and Hayner showed up, Pence in tow. He looked a little green. "What's wrong, Pence?" I asked. He just shook his head, looking bemused. Olette patted his shoulder sympathetically. She looked over at me and said "He just told the girl he was originally going to bring to the dance that he was going with a friend instead. Apparently she didn't take it well."

I winced in sympathy. "That's rough, man. I'm sorry."

He shook his head again, as if trying to clear his thoughts. "That's okay." He said in his friendly way. "I was planning on breaking up with her anyway. If you haven't met her, then you probably wouldn't know that she tends to be a bit . . . well, uh. . ." he couldn't seem to find the right adjective.

"Psychopathic." Hayner offered. Pence nodded. "Yeah. That." I started laughing at the two of them. I have no idea why; it just was funny to me. Good thing Namine and Olette laughed too, or I would have felt like a total moron.

I managed to keep my sweatshirt pinned up near my ears for the remainder of lunch. Good thing everyone was busy making plans for the dance the following week, or they would have noticed that I hardly ever moved my shoulders if I could help it. No one noticed Namine's wrist, either.

After lunch, I took my three tests – hopefully not failing any of them – and I did most of my homework during my free period. I was hoping that it would be a semi-quiet day for me as I walked back to my locker at the end of the school day. I hadn't planned on meeting anyone after school, and I'd already done all my chores and homework.

So who was standing outside of my locker?

* * *

Sora half ran to get back to the hangout before 7:30 am. It would be a miracle if he made it. But luck was on his side, and he was able to cut through several back yards and alleys to reach the front door of the ramshackle house at 7:26.

He had been about to unlock the front door and let himself in when he heard voices from around the side of the house. Curious, he circled around the side and came face to face with one of the funniest things he had seen all week.

Axel, Lexaeus, Xigbar, and Luxord were all struggling to pull on a rope that they had somehow fastened to the enormous old tree that had stubbornly settled itself in the roof and side of the garage. And from the looks of it, they'd been at it for a while with no results. Stifling a grin, he stepped forward and called out a greeting.

Axel's green eyes glared at him. "Well, it took you long enough. Where have you been?" he snapped. Sora shrugged as he came forward to help with the rope. "Just out, man. Saw a few friends."

Lexaeus snorted. "What friends, little man?" Sora bit back his response and focused on the task at hand. Lexaeus noticed this and laughed. "What, you go and visit Nikki, or Carla, anybody from that side of town?" Sora rolled his eyes. "No way, man. Hookers aren't my style. No offense to you, of course." Luxord and Axel laughed appreciatively at this. Lexaeus turned an angry red and shut up immediately.

The five of them pulled at the tree for a solid five minutes, with no sign of progress. Finally, Axel held up a hand to the others, and they dropped the rope. The tree sagged a little bit, groaning as it settled more deeply into the roof of the garage.

Axel spat on the ground, disgusted. "Well, we'll just try again later." He decided. At that moment, Larxene and Demyx came sauntering out of the house. Larxene surveyed the damage, then glanced indifferently at Axel. She pointed languidly to the garage and said "The tree's still there."

He glared at her. "No. Freaking. Duh." She smirked a little bit and turned to go back into the house. Demyx followed. Sora couldn't understand why, but Demyx had suddenly appointed himself as Larxene's bodyguard/servant. The five teenagers watched as the odd pair made their way through the back door and disappeared into the shadows.

Axel growled somewhere in the back of his throat and muttered about laziness and ungratefulness. The others backed carefully away from him, understanding that he could snap at any second.

Sora wiped sweat away from his eyes and looked around the yard. "Hey, where's Riku?" he asked curiously. Luxord shrugged. Xigbar muttered "He went to get a car."

Sora's heart sank. He knew how much Riku hated stealing cars. He went back inside the house to wait for his ride to school, ignoring the snide comments that he received from Larxene and Demyx.

Riku showed up ten minutes before school started, looking grim and unhappy. In the driveway, a beat up old ES 300 sat dismally in the gloom. Sora grabbed their backpacks and ran out to the car, praying they wouldn't be late to school . . . again.

Riku nodded sullenly as Sora slammed the passenger door shut. "Hey." he muttered. Sora nodded back in response. He glanced around the car, taking in the faded seats and ripped-up interior. He looked quizzically at Riku. "Um, where exactly did you find this car?"

Riku smiled wryly. "Well, I found the oldest, most beat-up car on the block, and I figured that it could be easily replaced, so I took it." Sora understood. If the car was this bad, it would probably be a blessing to have it taken away.

They didn't speak again until the school appeared through the morning mist.

"So," Riku said quietly, "how is she?" Sora didn't have to ask to figure out who he was talking about.

"She's fine." He said nonchalantly. "Why?" He knew that Riku wouldn't ask about _anything_ unless there was good reason to. For a while there was silence. "Riku? Why do you ask?" Sora asked impatiently. Riku kept his face blank. "No reason. Just some stuff I heard. Don't worry about it."

Sora sighed. He knew when Riku got quiet like that, it would be useless to try and pry information from him. So he let it drop.

The beat up little car carefully made its way through the parking lot, looking like it would roll over and die at any second. Sora felt instantaneous relief flood through him when Riku finally found a parking spot. He clambered out the passenger side, trying to avoid taking the door off its hinges. Riku gave a long-suffering sigh at his friend's ineptitude and exited the tiny car with more grace than Sora had mustered, and started walking toward the main building.

Sora fell into step beside him. "So," he asked conversationally, "how did Axel react when I didn't show up yesterday?" Riku scowled. "He was pissed, as usual. Demanded that I tell him where you were, threatened me, tried to trick me into telling him, the works."

Sora winced in sympathy. "Ouch. Sorry. Thanks, though." For a minute, the only sounds that could be heard were the two boys' shoes slapping against the wet pavement. When they got to the sidewalk, Riku stopped. Sora took a few more steps before he realized Riku wasn't with him. He turned around, confused as to why he had stopped. "What? Something wrong?"

He couldn't read Riku's expression. He took a couple steps toward him. "Hello, Riku? You okay?"

Riku scowled at the ground. "No, not really." He said quietly. "I don't know what to tell you, Sora. That I'm sick of covering up for you and the girl that _I_ happen to like? That I'm tired of holding back from beating on the guy who keeps threatening her? You're my best friend, and I've been listening to what you have to say. But this is insane. Do you _really_ think we can keep this up?"

Sora was shocked. He hadn't expected that. "Wait, I don't understand. Keep what--"

"Keep on protecting her like this!" Riku cut him off. "We aren't fooling anybody. Axel's gonna find out that you're, like, dating her sooner or later, and somebody's going to get hurt. I'm not saying I won't help you guys stay safe, but I'm not around all the time. Neither are you. What happens when Lexaeus or Xigbar or anybody else but us finds her alone? Not even Seifer's gang could help then."

Sora's shoulders sagged. "I know. I can't always be there. I admit it. There, you happy?"

Riku let out a breath and backed down a bit. "Hey, I wish it was different. I'll keep an eye out for her whenever I can, but I still think this whole thing is stupid. Give it a week. We'll stick close to her and drive her to and from school and stuff. If we can't think of anything else, we'll have to let her know what kind of danger she could be in. Got it?"

Sora stared at the ground, feeling the old weariness springing up in him again. "Got it."

* * *

**A/N:**

**Sorry it took me so long. I was on vacation in Mexico, so there were no computers. XP**

**Review if you want this next chapter done within the week!**

**Have a lovely day.**


	23. Chapter 23

I approached my locker cautiously, preparing to run if I had to. When I clearly saw who it was, I let out a huge sigh of relief. Riku was glancing up and down the crowded hallway, clearly looking for me. I came forward, glad to se him.

"Hey, Riku." I said cheerily.

He gave me his version of a smile and half-waved. I nudged past a group of freshmen and came to a stop in front of my locker. I quickly did the combination and began piling books on top of each other. I glanced over my shoulder at Riku and grinned. I shut my locker and turned to face him. "What's up?"

He shrugged. "Not much. Just hadn't seen you in a while and was wondering how you were doing." I felt a little rush. I didn't know whether it was embarrassment or gratitude. I laughed and said "Well that was nice of you, but I'm fine. Why? Do I just give off that 'damsel in distress' vibe?" He almost grinned. "Pretty close."

I shoved him playfully. It was like trying to move a marble statue, but harder. He didn't budge. I must have looked pretty surprised, because he started laughing at me. I rolled my eyes and grinned. "Yeah, okay, you're buff, I get it. Shut up." I joked.

He shook his head. "Whatever. Hey, do you need a ride home? Sora and I borrowed a car from the neighbors."

I nodded. "Yeah, that would be great. Thanks." I smiled. It might have been my imagination, but was there a hint of a blush on his cheeks? He turned quickly and strode down the hall, causing me to almost jog to keep up.

When we met with Sora in the parking lot, we found him eyeing the most run down car I'd ever seen suspiciously, like he suspected that it was going to steal his wallet at any moment. I knew the truck was still stuck in their garage, but this replacement was a bit pathetic. The poor little car was so decrepit and feeble-looking that I felt bad for it. How they made it to school in one piece in this thing, I would never know.

"You want to drive me home in _that_?" I asked doubtfully. Sora glanced at Riku, seeming to wonder the same thing. Riku just rolled his eyes at us and said "Well, you two could always walk, and I could just drive myself home." He grumbled. "It's just a car. Relax."

We didn't like our other option too much, particularly because of the trees that were still falling onto the roads and sidewalks. So we took our live into our own hands and got into the dead-looking car.

During the drive, every bump in the road felt like an earthquake. The poor car rattled nonstop, and I honestly thought the thing was going to collapse on top of us. Sora and I were clutching at our seats for dear life, but Riku seemed totally unfazed.

It was a relief when I finally set foot on solid ground. I carefully shut the car door and waved, calling out a thank-you. The two of them waved back and grinned, but it was almost like they were trying too hard, like they were forcing themselves to be cheerful.

I promised I would talk to them later and I walked briskly into my house. After closing the door behind me, I almost subconsciously slid the deadbolt in place. Something about their demeanor screamed that something was up, and I didn't want to take any chances.

I fixed myself a quick snack and watched T.V. for a while. The pretty anchor with the pearl earrings was reporting a mysterious string of robberies in the immediate area, which ranged from grand-theft-auto to frozen pizzas and beer. A crib was also stolen from a local family's home, pretty close to Sora and Riku's neighborhood. But I wasn't worried; if anything, belonging to the Organization would protect them from robbery.

Eventually I got bored and I wandered upstairs to my room. I switched the computer on and scanned for any new messages, and I saw that Olette was online. I opened up instant messaging and said hello.

_redmadness5: Hey Olette. What's up?_

_orangegirl220: Hey Kairi. I'm not really doing anything. Just looking at dresses online for the dance. I'm so excited! _

_redmadness5: That's cool. I'm excited too. But I think I'll go without a date. And that does NOT mean that I want to be set up with one. No offense._

_orangegirl220: Awww come on! I know a lot of great guys that would love to go with you. Hayner and Pence were even trying to help._

_redmadness5: Uh, thanks but no thanks. I really don't want one. It would complicate things for me. _

I smiled to myself. Yep, having a date would definitely complicate things. I wondered if Sora was going.

_orangegirl220: Oh fine. But you're no fun, just to let you know. _

_redmadness5: Thank you so much. Love you too._

_orangegirl220: Ha ha you know I love you. Anyway, what do you think Namine should wear? I was looking at this light blue one with white ribbons. _

_redmadness5: You're picking out Namine's dress?_

_orangegirl220: Well, yeah. She asked me to. We got our dresses and suits and stuff as a group last year, but it didn't seem like a good idea this year_

Well, that part was painfully easy to understand. I sighed and wondered if Namine would handle things as smoothly as I hoped she would. Suddenly something occurred to me. The image of her wrist flashed in my mind, the four angry red lines tracing the pale skin. I shuddered and scolded myself for being paranoid. After all, no one else had noticed anything. But still . . . I had to check.

_redmadness5: Yeah, I can understand that. I think it'll be better this way. _

_orangegirl220: Me too. Ugh, way too depressing. Let's talk about something else, okay?_

_redmadness5: Ok. Hey, sorry this is really random, but I was wondering what kind of dog Namine has. _

_orangegirl220: Dog? Wow, that __was__ really random. Namine doesn't have a dog. Her mom's allergic to them. _

For a minute there I thought my body had detached from my brain. I wasn't able to focus on anything but that one line: _Namine doesn't _have_ a dog. _I felt kind of light headed, and my stomach clenched as my suspicions darkened, became more real.

But why would . . .?

I glanced back at the computer screen, forcing myself to focus. With trembling fingers, I began typing again.

_redmadness5: Oh. My bad. At lunch today I asked her what happened to her arm and she said her dog scratched her. _

_orangegirl220: What happened? What did it look like?_

_redmadness5: Um, it was four red lines, really red and totally straight across, like half an inch from her hand. _

_orangegirl220: Huh. Weird. _

_redmadness5: Sorry, I have a question. Don't be mad. But Namine's never, like, cut or anything, right? Or tried to hurt herself?_

There was a long pause. I thought I had offended her somehow with the question. I was about to try sending another message to apologize for my never ending stupidity when a new message pinged on the screen.

_orangegirl220: No, she's never cut herself. As for trying to hurt herself, there was only one incident at the hospital last year when she was still in really bad shape that I can think of. She had been screaming at the nurses to just let her die for hours on end. She couldn't stand living with what had happened to her anymore. Roxas was the one who sat with her the whole time and kept convincing her to just give it one more day and see how it went. It lasted about a week, but she stopped eventually. _

In the time it took for me to read this horrifying message, another one popped up.

_orangegirl220: We don't EVER talk about this. Ever. You won't talk about it either, if you're really her friend. _

_redmadness5: Oh God, no. I won't, I promise. _

_orangegirl220: Good. As long as you understand how fragile she is right now, we won't have any problems. God I wish Roxas was here to help. _

_redmadness5: I know. We all do. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. I was just being paranoid. _

_orangegirl220: No, you didn't know, that's all. You were just trying to be a good friend. Concern is never a bad thing._

_redmadness5: Thanks. Well, it's probably nothing, right? I mean, there's no reason to be worried. _

_orangegirl220: Right! So, let's just drop it, ok? Way too much depression for one day, thank you very much. So, do you want to wear a pink or blue dress?_

And just like that we were talking about dresses and makeup and other frilly useless things that I would ignore except for special occasions. I chatted with Olette until it was time for dinner, then I shut down my computer and went downstairs to eat a quiet dinner with my mom.

* * *

Riku sat alone in his room, listening to music. It was during the quiet period of time between school and dinner at the hangout that he was able to think most clearly. He considered the scene that had unfolded the second that he and Sora had gotten home from school.

_Axel had been waiting for them. "Okay, where is it?" he demanded. Riku glanced down at Sora and shrugged. "Where is what?" _

_Axel passed a hand through his hair in frustration. "The money, you idiots. Your new deadline is Friday." Sora's and Riku's mouths dropped open. "What? Friday?" Sora protested. "But that's tomorrow! That's not nearly enough time to--"_

"_I don't CARE!" Axel snapped. In a calmer voice, he said "We need supplies more now than ever. We'll unfortunately need to get somebody else to remove that tree, and we're almost out of money. The druggies and hookers on the other side of town are raking in the cash, and the Superior over in the county prison isn't happy about it. He actually called me today. Said that if we don't pull it together, we're gonna have a whole crapload of problems. And since we've taken money from everyone who owed us, we're going to have to go a bit more local. So, where is my cash?"_

_Sora and Riku were too shocked to speak. The Superior had called? That was never good news. If they let him make a call from his cell, then somebody was either going to die or get a whole lot of money. _

_They handed Axel the envelope that Kairi had given them. He snatched it up and counted out the bills. He glared at Sora and thrust the envelope under his nose. "Is this the best you can do?!" he nearly screamed. Sora shook his head quickly. "Yes. No, I mean. Well, that's all I got from her. I'm sorry." _

_Axel looked like he might explode. "Well, that's just too bad, isn't it?" he said quietly. "I thought you would be able to do the job. I guess I'll have to send someone else after all. Xigbar, maybe. Who knows, maybe I'll just go myself." _

_The color drained from Sora's face. "No, no. Just give me some time. I won't let you down. I promise you'll get all your money by Friday." _

Riku sighed and let the memory fade. He knew that it was hopeless. They had produced half of what Axel wanted, and it had taken them all week. There was no way they could get the rest in less than twenty four hours.

He groaned and considered the options. Option 1: he could kill Axel. That was the most appealing possibility, but also the most impractical. Option 2: he could smuggle Kairi and her mom out of town and forget anything had ever happened. But he hated the idea of never seeing her again. Option 3: Steal.

There was always that possibility.

* * *

Sora was lying facedown on the couch, wishing that he could just leave all his problems behind. Most of the Organization was out doing who knows what, and he and Riku had been left behind to figure out new ways to take from Kairi. Axel had told them that they were still on the case only because "You guys are smart. You'll figure something out."

He sighed. Axel. They were going to have to do something about him.

He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He could hear rock music blaring from Riku's room, and he knew that he was thinking hard. He hoped that he would come up with a solution to their problems, because his mind was totally blank at the moment.

He stared at the ceiling for a good five minutes before a grim-faced Riku strode into the room. Sora quickly sat up and said "What's up? Did you think of anything?"

Riku nodded. "Yeah, I did. Get up. We're going on an all expenses unpaid shopping trip."

* * *

Five hours later, the two of them stumbled through the front door of the hangout, completely exhausted by their little escapade. Sora closed the door behind him and fell headfirst onto the sofa, panting slightly. He had been sure that last biker dude was going to catch them. Riku flopped onto the couch next to him and almost laughed.

"_Four hundred dollars._ We did it, buddy." And this time he did laugh.

Sora coughed and grinned weakly. "Yeah, we did. Now just promise me we will never do something like that again. I seriously thought we were gonna die." Riku laughed. "Yeah. I don't think we'll have to do that anymore. Besides, we'll never be allowed into that bar ever again. You know, I thought that one guy was really going to shoot you."

Sora snorted and rolled onto his side. "He almost did. When those rounds went off, I thought I was going to pass out." He laughed. Riku grinned at the ceiling. "Yeah. Well, there's another feat to be added to our list of stupid, idiotic adventures. I think we're actually going to have to write all this stuff down. It's gonna be worth millions someday."

Sora started cracking up. "Really? Millions? You don't say." Riku nodded. "Yep. God, I can't wait to see the look on Axel's face when we fork over the cash. It'll be priceless. After that, he'll have nothing to hold over our heads. Kairi will be safe, you and I won't have to avoid getting shot, and everything will be normal again. Well, as normal as it ever gets for us."

Sora sighed and said "I sure hope so."

* * *

After dinner, I was in my room getting ready for bed. Throughout the whole course of the meal, my mom had tried to ask me about my friends, what was going on at school, if I had a date to the dance, and all the other stuff that I had no intention of talking to her about.

It's not that I don't love my mom. I really do. It's just that she asks too many questions, and it could get really dangerous for the both of us if she found out about the Organization. So I'm going to leave her in the dark for just a little while longer.

But as I was brushing my teeth, I felt really horrible about the one-word answers I had been feeding her. So, probably against my better judgment, I decided to throw her a bone. I walked down the hallway to my mother's room and knocked on the door.

"Come on in!" she called cheerfully. I opened the door and entered the room. I sat down on her bed and made myself smile. "Hey mom. I just wanted to tell you about some plans that I had coming up. Is that okay?"

She walked out of the adjoining bathroom and sat down across from me. "Sure, hon." She bubbled. "I'm always glad to hear about your life."

Yeah, no guilt trip there. "Okay. Anyways, my friends and I are going to this dance coming up. We're all going to the mall this weekend to do some shopping for dresses and tuxes and all that. And we were going to meet up at Olette's house at around eight. . ."

From there, the words were not strained. They ebbed and flowed, and I ended up having a real life actual conversation with her for the first time since Roxas had passed away. I hadn't known it before, but it felt like I had been building up pressure inside my head until I was ready to explode. Telling her bits and pieces of my life was helping to relieve that pent-up stress and energy.

When I finally told her goodnight and made my way back to my room, I felt lighter, somehow. More free. There were no dark dreams that night, no horrible visions of anger and death. There were only happy, soft dreams of my friends and my mom, the kind that you tuck into a corner of your mind so that you can wrap yourself in a blanket of comfort and warmth every time you remember them.

* * *

Of course, the moment I woke up, I came back to reality. I sternly reprimanded myself for feeling miserable when I realized that the vivid dreams I'd had of my friends and I at the festival were just that; dreams. Of course Roxas wouldn't be giving Namine any more hugs. Of course the rest of my friends would never accept Riku and Sora as part of the group.

It was not useful to dream about things that would never come true.

Although, I couldn't help smiling when I remembered the rest of the dreams. Even if they could never happen, it was still nice to think about what could have been.

I snapped out of my nostalgic reverie and got ready for school. Fortunately, it was Friday, which meant that I could hang out after school. Unfortunately I still had to _go_ to school. But after I got that out of the way, I would be home free. So I mentally steeled myself for the day and marched out the door.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Hello everybody! Hope you liked it. **

**Review if you want the next one up even faster than this one!**

**Thanks to all of you who already reviewed!**

**You're the ones who inspire me to keep writing.**


	24. Chapter 24

I made it through my morning classes unscathed. At lunch, I couldn't help noticing the way Namine kept her sleeve rolled down over her left wrist. I didn't bring it up, though. I wouldn't try to talk to her about it in front of everyone else – that would be humiliating. So I smiled and nodded and laughed at all the appropriate moments during the lunch table's conversation, and when the bell rang I promised myself that I would ask her about it after school.

I made it through my afternoon classes without any hassle at all. The teachers seemed to go easy on us, giving as little homework as possible and making the in-class lessons simple. I could feel everyone's impatience to be gone by the end of the day.

In my last class, the teacher was halfheartedly trying to explain something, but the rest of the class was counting down the seconds until we could leave. 6 seconds . . . 5 seconds . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1. _Riiiinnng_!

I catapulted myself out of my seat and made my way down the stairs to my locker. After hurriedly shoving my all books on top of each other, I gathered up my stuff and hurried out to the parking lot. I was almost at the sidewalk before I remembered that I had wanted to talk to Namine.

I started looking around for her. I went back inside the school building, running into Hayner and Olette on the way. When I asked them if they had seen her, they just shook their heads. Hayner suggested that I look for her by the art department. After telling them to have fun on their date, I changed direction and headed to the staircase that would lead to the second floor art department.

I found her packing up her things, getting ready to go home. She looked up when I walked into the room. "Hey, Kairi. What's up?"

I really didn't want to be annoying and intrusive, but I knew that it would really bother me if I didn't ask. "Um, not much. I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

Riku and Sora were having their own countdown at the end of the day, but they weren't counting down to the end of school. They were counting the seconds until they could shove their money in Axel's face and be done with the whole thing.

When the bell rang, the two of them took off like shots toward the parking lot. Sora didn't even mind that they would be driving home in the little Deathtrap, as he now affectionately referred to it. He looked around for Kairi as they left the lot, but he didn't see her.

The road seemed to zoom by much faster than it usually did, even though Riku was extremely careful while driving the Deathtrap. Sora was practically bouncing in his seat he was so excited. Riku had to yell at him twice to stop before the whole car shook apart. But Sora didn't care. In a matter of minutes, they would have bought Kairi's safety, and they could stop worrying so much about protecting her from Axel.

The hangout came into view. The two of them could barely contain their energy, though Riku was slightly more successful at hiding it. By the time the little old car had pulled to a stop, Sora had grabbed his backpack, which contained the envelope, exited the car, and was halfway to the front door.

Riku had to run to catch up to him. He didn't want to miss the look on Axel's face, either. His ideas had worked; now he wanted to see the results.

The two of them burst through the door, slightly surprising Demyx and Luxord, who were flipping through the T.V. channels in the front room. "Hey, guys," Sora said breathlessly. "Axel around?" Demyx shrugged, never taking his eyes off the T.V. Luxord glanced at the two of them and said "Yeah, he's in the kitchen with her Royal Bitchiness."

Riku nodded. "Thanks." He and Sora rushed toward the kitchen, slowing down just before they would be visible to the occupants inside. They strode carelessly forward, like they weren't there for any particular reason at all.

They were met by two pairs of vivid green eyes. Larxene was sitting at the table, and Axel was standing over her. They looked like they had been arguing about something and had stopped the moment someone set foot in the room. Axel straightened up and glowered at them. "What? We're kinda busy here. Unless somebody is dying, get lost."

Riku sensed that Sora was faltering, so he stepped forward. "Actually, this is kind of important. We've met our deadline."

Axel's eyes widened, then turned suspicious. Larxene glanced between the two of them like she was watching a tennis match. "What deadline?" she asked.

Axel ignored her question and stepped forward. "Oh, really? Well then, let's see it." He held out a hand. Riku nudged Sora with his elbow. Sora fished the envelope out of his backpack and handed it to Axel, who looked like he was losing his patience.

He opened it and began counting the bills inside. Sora and Riku glanced at each other, smiling knowingly. Larxene stood up and peeked over Axel's shoulder at the envelope. Her eyes bulged when she saw the hundreds of dollars tucked away inside. She looked first at Axel then at Sora and Riku. "What's this for?" she demanded.

Axel looked up from counting the cash to stare at Sora and Riku. "Nothing, Larx. Just settling an agreement." A grin spread across his face. "I think this calls for a celebration. Riku, Larxene, go get Luxord and Demyx and hit the liquor store. We're gonna have some fun."

Riku and Larxene eyed each other warily and left the room. Sora turned to follow them, but Axel motioned for him to stay. Puzzled, Sora turned around and sat at the table. Axel counted out the money again. For a long moment, no one said anything. Sora was wondering if he was supposed to say something when Axel spoke.

"So, are you going to tell me where you got all of this?" he said quietly, waving the envelope in the air. Sora shrugged and grinned. "Well, you should know. You told us what to do. And you were right; she gave it to us willingly." Lying was easy after so many years of practice.

Unfortunately, Axel was one of the ones who taught him how to lie so well.

"Look. I know for a fact that you didn't get this from her. So, one more time." He said casually. "Where'd you get it?" Sora knew that he was in trouble, but he tried to keep up the act. "I told you, you were right. Kairi gave us that money." He frowned slightly, trying to seem sincere. "Why? Is something wrong?"

Axel smiled slightly and shook his head. "No, nothing. It's just that you were always a horrible liar. In fact, you're one of the worst liars in the Organization. So," he took a step forward, "I'm giving you one last chance to explain why my orders were ignored. Okay? Go."

Sora stood there dumbly, not knowing what to do. He knew that it would be a terrible idea to lie again, but telling the truth could be even worse. So he just stood there.

Axel waited about two more seconds before he grabbed hold of Sora's shirt. After shaking the younger teen violently, he held him very close to his face and said "Spit it out. I don't have all freakin' day." Sora's head was buzzing, but he shook his head. "You would hurt Kairi." He said.

Axel's eyes narrowed. He dropped Sora to the floor. "And why would I ever hurt the princess?" he drawled. "You didn't, oh, I don't know, tell her about our plans, did you?"

Sora shook his head quickly. "No, I didn't say anything. I swear." Axel was getting irritated. The kid was still avoiding the question.

"So where the hell did you get the money?" he roared. "If you don't tell me _real_ soon, little miss princess is going to get a house call." Axel hid his smirk. He had him there. He knew that Sora had some unreasonable attachment to the little wretch -- and that he would do anything to keep her safe.

Sora paled. He stared at the floor, defeated. And he told him everything.

He looked up at Axel when he was finished. Sora couldn't tell what he was thinking; his face was totally blank. Axel regarded him silently for a few moments. Then, when Sora thought he wouldn't be able to stand the tension any longer, Axel burst into raucous laughter.

That's right. Laughter. Sora thought he would keel over in shock.

Unsure of how to react to the sudden change, Sora smiled a little, wondering if Axel had finally lost it. Axel reached out and clapped Sora on the shoulder, still chuckling. In between laugh spasms, Axel said "Oh my," chuckle, "God! You really . . . really had me fooled. I had no idea it was this bad! Holy crap, all this for the sake of some chick. You know," he took a deep breath, "if I'd have known you wanted her this bad, I would have set things up for you myself."

Sora felt uneasy. Things were starting to go south in a hurry. Axel had to recollect himself for a moment, then he looked gleefully over at Sora. "Oh, God. I don't know how you've held out for so long. If a guy in the Organization likes a girl, particularly a girl _that_ hot, that's all there is to it. Just mentioning the _name_ will scare any girl into compliance. So why didn't you, huh? Why not use the name to get some?"

Sora's glare was filled with disgust. "Maybe I wanted to do things the right way. You know, actually have a _relationship_ with her." He folded his arms. Axel laughed. "Wow. Really? A _relationship_? And besides, when have you ever done anything the _right way_?"

Sora grunted and started to walk away. Before he took another step, Axel said "Hold it. We're not finished here." Sora reluctantly turned around to face him. Axel drew himself up to his full height – all six feet two inches of him – and smiled wolfishly at Sora.

"So, we seem to have a problem here. You told me that you would get four hundred dollars from her by today." Sora raised an eyebrow and nodded, not really caring what Axel had to say. "And you disobeyed a direct order. You stole from a bunch of bikers, for Christ's sake. That means you and Riku owe me. So, what do we do with you two now?" he mused out loud.

Sora shrugged disinterestedly. "I don't know. You could kick me out, like you always say you will. But that would mean losing the only decent climber here, which would rule out anything more than third-rate break-ins, which would make you very unhappy." he said sarcastically

Axel grinned. "Yeah, losing either you or Riku would be a huge problem. Besides, we need everyone we can get our hands on. Kicking people out for stupid reasons at this point would not be wise."

Sora had to bite his tongue to keep from saying anything. Since when did Axel know anything about being wise?

He rolled his eyes and glanced back at the red headed pyro. "Okay, so if you're not gonna kick me out, can I leave now?" Sora asked in a bored tone. Axel shook his head. "I said I wasn't going to kick you out. I didn't say that you weren't in trouble." Narrowing his eyes, Sora planted his feet and glared at him. "Okay, fine. If I'm going to get a punishment, just spit it out. I want to leave before Larx and Riku get back."

Axel had been pondering what an appropriate and entertaining punishment would be, and the moment Sora mentioned Riku and Larxene at the liquor store, his toxic green eyes lit up. Sora noticed that the certain smile Axel reserved for causing others pain had slid across his face.

Axel was almost radiating glee when he put the final pieces of his cruel plan together. "Sora, my pal, my buddy, my friend, I know one thing is for sure. You are definitely not leaving this house until I say so. That means you'll be here to share in the celebration -- every aspect of it."

Sora scowled and took a step back. "Come on, man. You know I can't do that. I quit, remember?"

Axel smiled. "Yeah, I remember. But I don't think _you_ remember that you're in debt to me right now. So, I guess that you'll be staying here for a while after all."

I felt really awkward just standing there like an imbecile in front of Namine. The way I had pictured it, I would have done something sophisticated like place my hands firmly on my hips and say 'Look, I know that you didn't get those marks on your wrist from your dog. You don't even have a dog. So go on, talk. This is for your own good.' Or some random crap like that.

But that is far from the way it turned out. I couldn't look her in the eyes, I had crossed my arms in front of me, and I was shifting from foot to foot like I was the one being interrogated and not the other way around.

Namine saw that I was upset about something. She frowned slightly. "Kairi, what's wrong?" she asked. I shook my head. "Nothing's wrong with me. I was just sort of worried about you."

She tilted her head to one side. "Why? What do you mean?" I inwardly groaned. Man, she just wasn't going to let this be easy, was she? I could feel my face turn red. "Well, um . . . I know you don't have a dog." Wow. Brilliant.

She looked puzzled, and I thought I saw a flicker of understanding mixed with panic before her face went blank. "I don't know what you're talking about." She said coldly. I felt myself get bolder. "Namine . . . what really happened to your arm?" I asked.

She kept her face politely disinterested. "I told you, I got scratched." I was getting irritated with her. "I know. But you told me your dog scratched you, and you don't have a dog. Your mom is allergic to them. I asked Olette."

The color rapidly drained from her face. "What did you say to her?" she quickly asked. "Please say you didn't say anything."

I held up my hands and kept my voice calm. "I didn't say anything to her. All I asked was if you had a dog, that's all. So, I'm guessing that this wasn't from any animal." I stated it more than asked. Her reaction wasn't what I expected at all; she looked really tired and almost . . . embarrassed. Ashamed.

"Does this have anything to do with Roxas?" I prodded gently. I wanted to get all the info I could while she was still talking to me. She turned away from me and resumed putting away her belongings. After she heaved a sigh, she turned wearily to me and said "Look, it's not a big deal. It's just my way of dealing with things, okay? And with all the stuff about the dance coming up. . . Anyway, I was having a really low day, and I was . . . not doing so well. I know you've been trying to see my arms, and it's been making me mad, but now I know you've just been trying to be a good friend. But it's okay, see?"

I really wanted to believe her, but I wasn't sure I should. "You haven't done this before, have you?" She glanced out the window. "No. That was it." I nodded. "Okay. You haven't done it again, have you?" She took a deep breath and looked down at the floor. "No, that was the only time."

She looked up at me, her blue eyes pleading. "Please tell me when you found out you didn't do something stupid. I don't want anyone worrying about me. And if you haven't told anyone, please don't. Okay?"

I nodded. "I haven't told anyone. I promise I won't." She relaxed, relief visibly washing over her. "Thank you, Kairi. That means a lot. And I swear I'm fine now. It was just the one time."

After that, we managed to keep it on a regular conversation level. When we parted ways to head home that Friday afternoon, I couldn't help the tiny bud of grief that opened in my heart that. To get to the point that you would rather feel physical pain than deal with mental pain, you must be in a world of hurt. I mean, to want to take a razor to yourself . . . I shuddered quietly and continued walking home in silence.

It would be a long time before I finally stopped having nightmares about Namine showing up at school with horrible slashes down her arms.

The party was underway. Larxene had gone to town on the drinks, and Riku had brought home enough food for a hundred people. Punk music blared from the speakers, and several Organization members were dancing with girls of a rather unsavory nature. Larxene was making out with Axel on the couch, and Riku was refilling the bowls of popcorn and chips. Vision was minimal through the haze of cigarette smoke and evaporated sweat, and there was booze everywhere.

Sora was miserable.

The smell of the alcohol was intoxicating and nauseating at the same time. He thought he might throw up, but the Diet Coke he was having helped to keep his head clear. It was a strange thing for him to feel; his body craved the whiskey and beer, but at the same time his mind reeled at the thought of taking even one sip.

Riku saw that his friend was distressed, so he ambled over and plopped down next to him. "You okay buddy?" he shouted over the music. Sora nodded. Riku clapped him on the back and grinned. "Good! I was worried I would have to call a hospital or something. You look awful!" he joked. Sobering a little, he said "Wanna go outside for a minute?"

Sora nodded quickly. The two of them picked their way through the crowd of people and made it to the front door. When the cool night air hit his face, Sora thought he was heaven. The two boys sat outside for a minute. Suddenly Riku asked "So, what was up with Axel earlier today? I heard that there was yelling."

Sora cringed. He had hoped that Riku wouldn't ask about that. "Nothing. He was just being an ass." He said tiredly. Riku nodded thoughtfully. "Oh, well. Nothing unusual there." He glanced back into the house over his shoulder. He looked over at Sora. "It all right with you if we go back inside? It's getting cold."

Sora looked back at the partying teenagers. He didn't really want to go back in, but he was starting to get chilled as well. He nodded reluctantly. "Okay, let's go."

The two of them went back to the table full of snacks; Sora found his Diet Coke where he had left it near Axel and Larxene. The two of them were still very involved in their hormone driven activities. Riku grabbed a handful of chips and walked toward the stereo to check out what music could be played while Sora sat down in a chair and downed the rest of his drink. He thought it tasted different, but the thought was quickly gone as he drained the last drops from it.

Axel opened one eye and peeked over at Sora. He couldn't help smiling against Larxene's lips when he saw Sora finish the soft drink.

A few minutes later, Riku came back from the kitchen just in time to see Sora sway a little on his feet before breaking into a huge grin. To Riku's utter astonishment, Sora started dancing with one of the tramps from across town, completely enjoying himself.

Riku blinked, unfocused and refocused his eyes on the blue eyed brown haired boy grinding with some random chick. It was definitely Sora. But what _happened_?

Sora was enjoying himself. He didn't know this girl's name, but she was pretty, so he danced with her. When the song ended, the short blonde girl sauntered off with a quick wink and a smile back at him. He liked that.

He started to follow her, but a hand caught his arm. He looked up to lock eyes with two bright aqua searchlights. Riku looked concerned. "Hey, you okay?" he shouted. Sora felt irritated. Of course he was all right! Why wouldn't he be? He was having fun. He didn't like that Riku was being such a buzz kill. He shook off the restraining hand and wandered through the crowd.

Suddenly Axel appeared. With a grin that would have normally scared Sora, Axel said "Hey, buddy. Glad to see you finally having some fun." Sora laughed back at him. "Yeah, it's awesome. I feel so great."

The grin grew wider. "Good." Axel took a sip from his beer. Sora watched, fascinated. Axel pretended to notice for the first time. "Oh, do you want one of these?" He asked casually, waving the Budweiser around.

Something went off in the back of Sora's mind, but when he tried to focus on it, it disappeared. He shrugged and said "Sure."

Axel led him over to the drinks table, where Sora proceeded to have three shots of vodka, two Coronas, four Bud Lites, and half a bottle of Jack.

He couldn't have made a rational decision for the rest of the night if his life depended o it.

Riku knew that something was wrong with Sora the second he shook him off. He watched as Sora drank glass after glass of booze, watched as he danced with the sluttiest girls, and watched as he acted like a true member of the Organization. The only time he interfered was when a bunch of the partygoers started to smoke pot. He nearly ripped the arm off the guy who offered some to Sora. It wasn't like he was going to say _no_ to anything in his present state.

He finally just up and left. It hurt him to see Sora do this to himself, but there was nothing he could do about it. He walked down the hall to his room, kicking out the couple who had chosen his room for recreational activity.

After he locked the door behind him, he put on a pair of headphones, turned them all the way up to drown out the festivities, and went to sleep.

When Sora woke up the next morning, he was lying face down in a bed in nothing but his boxers. There was a pair of dark blue satin heels on the floor next to his ratty old gym shoes. At first, he thought he was still dreaming, but when he sat up and abruptly threw up on the floor, he knew that he was not.

He felt himself clutching something in his left hand. He looked down and saw the half-finished bottle of Jack. His gut clenching in horror, he let the bottle drop from stiff fingers. It shattered on the floor, sloshing its contents everywhere.

He felt the panic setting in. He hurriedly racked his brains trying to recall the events of the previous night. All that accomplished was worsening his terrible headache. He couldn't remember anything at all. The last thing he could think of was when he was drinking the last of his Diet Coke – then nothing.

"Holy crap," he croaked. His mouth was as dry as cotton, and luckily he made it to the bathroom before he threw up again.

**A/N:**

**Uh oh. This could be bad!**

**Review please!**


	25. Chapter 25

I spent my weekend with Olette, Hayner, Pence, and Namine, who seemed much better after our little conversation. We went shopping for dresses and tuxes, like they had before I came along. Like they had before Roxas . . . well, no one really talked about that. We all had a pretty good time, too.

My mom was excited for me to hang out with them. I think she was just happy that I wasn't hanging out with Riku or Sora.

I didn't hear from either one of them all weekend, which made me worry. Had I done something wrong? Did they not like me anymore? Had something bad happened to them? Or was I being paranoid, and nothing was wrong at all? I sent them a few messages, but heard nothing back.

When my friends and I were at the mall, I made a point of walking past their skate shop. When I peered inside, only a guy with a neon green mohawk was working the counter. Olette noticed that I was disappointed, so she took me aside to get some ice cream, which made me feel better.

Sunday night was torture. I had to study for five huge tests in the next two days, and I had to complete a project on top of it. Ugh. Even thinking about all that work makes me want to puke. I don't know if you can tell or not, but homework is one of my least favorite things in the entire world.

After I finished studying, I decided to send a text to Riku, just to say hi. I would say hi to Sora, but I was a bit too in love with him to say anything coherent.

I spent about ten minutes staring at my phone, willing it to ring, before I finally gave up and decided to go to sleep. I would have to try again tomorrow.

On Monday, school went by fast. I didn't see Riku or Sora once.

I decided not to go home right away. It was nice out, and I had had the brilliant idea of riding my bike to school. And my mom wouldn't be home for a few more hours anyway. I rode across town, avoiding the parts that I had come to know all too well as Organization territory. I went past the bakery, the post office, and past the neighborhoods that Olette and Pence lived in.

I ended up somewhere in the east part of town, right next to the hospital. Seeing the building made me sad, because I know that was where one of my friends had died. But it also made me think of someone else, someone who I hadn't even thought about once in the past few weeks. And that made me feel horribly guilty.

I had no other plans, and all my homework was done, so I locked my bike to one of the stone benches by the entrance and headed inside. The atmosphere was much more cheerful than I remembered; the colors were slightly brighter. I recognized a few of the nurses as I made my way to the front desk, but if any of them recognized me, they didn't show it.

The nurse sitting at the information desk was middle aged and kind looking. She smiled at me over the top of the desk. "What can I do for you, honey?" she asked.

I smiled back. "Well, I was wondering if you had a patient here named . . . uh, well I don't exactly know her last name, but her first name is Fuu."

The woman smiled and entered the name into the computer in front of her. After a moment the results popped up on screen. She looked up at me and said "Do you know what she's in for? That might help narrow the list down a bit."

I had to bite my tongue to keep from blurting _How many girls on earth could possibly have the name Fuu? Let alone in this one hospital!_ "Um, she was beat up really bad. Couple of deep cuts and a broken foot." The nice lady entered the new data and waited patiently for it to boot up.

When the new results came up, a little worry line appeared between her eyebrows. She glanced up at me. "Yes, we have someone by the name of Fuu Tomkins. Well, she was removed from intensive care just a few days ago. They're still keeping a close watch on her. Are you a close friend or family?"

I thought fast. I was obviously not related to her, so I decided to go with close friend. Which was a bold-faced lie, considering I didn't know if she would even want to see me or not. The nurse made me fill out a visitor's form and told me to follow a different nurse to Fuu's room, which was thankfully in a part of the hospital that I'd never visited before.

The young nurse who was leading me around stopped in front of one of the doors. I waited outside while she made sure Fuu was doing all right and was well enough to see anybody. She came back outside and told me I could go in, but I wasn't to wake her up from her nap.

I thanked her and went inside the little room. I closed the door silently behind me and looked at Fuu. She wasn't as bad as I remembered, but she certainly wasn't doing well. Her foot was still in a large white cast and she was covered in bandages and scrapes. She still had some of the nastier bruises on her face as well. She looked so small and delicate lying there in that hospital bed. If I hadn't known better, I wouldn't have believed it if someone told me she could kill almost effortlessly.

That thought didn't scare me, oddly enough. It just made me sad. Why should she have to know how to slice and dice people like sushi? It wasn't fair, it wasn't right.

I sighed and dropped into a chair by the wall. I considered the small girl a few feet away and couldn't help comparing her to Roxas. They were both brought to this hospital in critical condition, worked on by the same doctors. But she had made it out of her near death experience, and he had not. I didn't resent her for it. I stared at the floor for a long time, telling myself that over and over. I had to be fair. There was no reason for me to dislike her; yet there was something in me that kept saying that Roxas should have made it, and that it wasn't fair that she got to live and he didn't.

I eventually convinced myself that it was normal to feel what I was feeling. All that meant was that I had to be nice to her in spite of my bitter thoughts. If she got a second chance, I should be glad for her. I would want Seifer and Rai to be happy if it had been Roxas who had lived instead.

I let out a breath and looked up from the floor to find a pair of intense amber-colored eyes locked on my face. I froze, slightly embarrassed and surprised. Fuu studied me in silence, her gaze wary and tired at the same time.

I swallowed. "Hey, Fuu. I'm sorry to just show up like this, but I wanted to see if you were doing all right. So, yeah."

She didn't say anything. She just kept staring. I shifted in my seat, uncomfortable. Should I leave? Should I say something else? I decided to say more. "I don't know if anybody's been keeping you updated on stuff, but there's some things going on around town these days. There's a dance on Friday this week at the high school, and there's a huge outdoor market coming to town tomorrow. . ."

And for a while, she just let me talk. The wary expression left her eyes, and she seemed to relax a bit. I told her about the comings and goings of the townsfolk, about how one of the girls at school had given birth to triplets, even about how my friends and I were doing. And I knew that she listened to every word I said, which made it even easier to talk to her. But when I mentioned what each of my friends was wearing to the dance, she held up a bandaged hand.

"Forgot Roxas." She pointed out simply.

Again I felt the icy cold fingers of grief circling my heart, making it hard to breathe. So I guess no one really had been keeping her updated on things after all.

I looked at the little bottles of medicine that were lined up by the cabinets like they were the most interesting things in the world. "No, that's not it. I don't think you heard, but Roxas is dead. His funeral was about a week and a half ago."

She was suddenly wide awake. "How?" she asked sharply.

Those medicine bottles had some really interesting colors on their labels. "He was killed, actually. In a drive-by shooting, in front of the Organization hangout."

For some reason the color rapidly drained from her face. "When exactly?" she whispered.

I thought for a moment, trying to leave out the messy emotions that went with the memories. "Um, it was on a Sunday night a couple weeks ago. They brought him to this hospital, but he died really late that night. Or maybe it was really early Monday morning." I shrugged. What did it matter when exactly it was? He was gone. That's all that mattered.

But it really seemed important to Fuu. "Suspects?" She asked me almost inaudibly, like she was afraid to hear the answer.

I shook my head. "No. Sora was the only one who was there when it happened, and it was too dark to see the car. The police are still looking, though."

She looked oddly relieved, but at the same time it looked like she was going to be violently ill. I rose out of my chair. "Fuu, are you all right? Do you need me to get you a nurse?" I asked. She shook her head, but I stayed near the door in case she changed her mind. She covered her eyes with her good hand and stayed like that for a while. I stood there wondering what was making her act like this. When she had seen Roxas in the past, it was very clear that she and the TTDC wanted nothing to do with him. So why would she be so upset at his passing?

Eventually she brought her hand away from her eyes and looked at me. Her amber eyes were filled with something that I would never have pictured: a mix of pity and sorrow. I'd only seen her in a battle rage and in her usual blank-faced state before – this was something completely new and different.

"I'm sorry."

She said it so softly I almost didn't hear her. When I realized what she had said, I blinked and said "Oh, thank you."

She looked exhausted. I figured I'd better leave and let her get more rest. I said goodbye to her and said I might come back later. She didn't respond, she just closed her eyes and lay very still on the bed.

I went back to the front desk and signed out of the visitor's list. I thanked the kind woman working the front desk and went outside to get my bike where I had left it an hour and a half earlier. As I rode out of the parking lot, I wondered why Rai or Seifer hadn't said anything about the current events to her. I mean, they were teammates, right? And teammates look out for each other, no matter what. That meant keeping her in the loop about social things, keeping her from getting bored, coming to visit her in the hospital . . .

And protect her. They were supposed to protect her.

Something nagged at the back of my mind, but I couldn't place it. Shrugging, I hopped onto my bike and headed for home. It was getting to be late, hopefully not too late to help my mom cook dinner. We would be having my favorite: orange chicken with white rice. Yum.

I took less time than I had originally thought to get home. My mom should have been home for a while now; I was expecting to see her beat up minivan in the driveway. But when I rounded the corner, I saw a silvery blue Aston Martin in its place, and a Lamborghini was parked in the street. I frowned. We didn't know anybody with that kind of money. What was going on?

I put my bike in the garage and headed into the house through the front door. I heard my mom's voice in the kitchen; she was laughing about something. The other, deeper voice belonged to a man. It sounded familiar, like something from a bad dream.

With some trepidation I walked into the kitchen. My mom looked up and smiled at me. "Kairi, I'm so glad you're home. There's someone here to see us."

I looked past her at the man sitting at the table. Medium height, rumpled brown hair, bright blue eyes, beard stubble. He had dimples that accentuated his boyish good looks when he smiled at me. He would appear charming and kind to anyone who was just looking at him for the first time. But when I looked at him, all I saw was fear. Fear and blind, pure hatred.

My father stood up and spread his arms wide. "Surprise, sweetie. Daddy's home now."

My mind reeled like I'd just been punched in the face. _What_ did he say? I looked at my mother. She was grinning foolishly, like a schoolgirl who had just been asked out by her crush. Did she realize who this man was? Had she forgotten all the nights of screaming and crying? What about all the bruises on her body and her heart?

I stared at my father in astonishment. "What are you doing here?"

His charming grin didn't falter. "I'm here to be with my two favorite women in the world, of course." He crossed the room and put his arms around my mother, who blushed and smiled. He laughed and kissed her cheek. I fought the urge to vomit. Instead I planted my feet apart and crossed my arms.

"Okay, so when you're done playing house, where does that leave us, huh? Are we just going to pretend that you're not abusive and awful?"

"KAIRI!" my mother's infuriated voice cut through me like a knife. She pulled away from the scumbag and walked toward me. "How dare you speak to your father that way? He came all this way to apologize, and this is how you treat him?"

"Oh, so that's what the new car is for!" I spat. "How much did the 'apology' cost you this time? How long till you have to buy her another one, huh?" By the time I was done, I was screaming at him. He didn't even flinch; he just looked sad. He was trying to make me feel bad for him.

And I hated him for it.

My mom grabbed me by the arm and led me upstairs. I tried to convince her the entire time that he was no good, and I yelled at her for even letting him near the house. After I tried reminding her that _she_ had left _him_, I was locked into my room. I heard her retreat down the steps and back into the kitchen. She started apologizing. I couldn't believe that she was sorry that I was telling the truth. And to make things worse, he said "Oh, don't worry, she'll come around. She knows her daddy loves her."

And that was when I collapsed into tears on my bed.

I cried for a long time. I thought of all the things he had done to us as a family, and it made me sick. He'd been so horrible. All those times he had beaten my mom . . . then there were the more recent memories of him, from when I was nine. He'd put Mom in the hospital with a broken arm, and I was the only one around when he was drunk that night. When she got back a few days later, she found me covered in green and purple bruises.

Oh, he'd said sorry. In fact, he'd said sorry exactly thirty seven times. I'd counted how many times he'd said it as my mom and I drove away from him, away from that life. He'd fallen to his knees in the middle of the street, and he cried as we drove away.

It was good to see him be the one in pain, for once.

Why was he here now? Sure, we weren't rich like we'd been when we were living with him, but we were doing fine. How had he found us? This was the third town we'd moved to since we'd left him. It was unfair. Things weren't exactly perfect – not by a long shot – but I was reasonably happy. Is it that I can't be happy for too long a period of time before the universe gets bored and decides to screw me over? That must be it.

I was completely out of it for the next few days. It was so surreal; I went to school, talked with friends, and plastered a fake smile on my face, never letting anyone know that something was wrong. Then when I got home every day, it was like a recurring nightmare; you know, that one horrifying dream where you know what is going to happen but you can't stop it.

And he was there, every day. He was sharing my mother's room with her, and she was in heaven. I don't remember seeing her so happy. And it was killing me inside.

Thursday came around. Everyone was all excited about the dance tomorrow, but not me. I'd lost the ability to be normal. Namine was the one to finally notice that something was wrong with me. She came up to me after school at my locker.

"Hey." She said. I glanced up and put the mask of cheerfulness back on. "Hey Namine. What's up?"

"Not much." She looked at me, her face full of concern. "Um, you've been off this week. Is everything all right?"

I faked a laugh. "Of course, everything's fine. I've just been tired, that's all." I kept smiling as I put my homework into my bag and closed my locker. When I looked at her again, she looked sad. No, not sad, really. It looked like . . . pity.

She stood up straight and shook her bangs out of her eyes. "Okay. Well, if you want to talk about it, whatever it is, I'll be here, okay? Just let me know." I nodded, still grinning. My face was starting to hurt. She walked away, and I seriously considered breaking down and telling her everything.

But that would be unfair to her. She had enough to deal with; she had real problems. This was nothing.

I would get over it.

**A/N:**

**I AM SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG. DX**

**I had writers block like you would not believe. **

**But thanks to a suggestion from one of the readers, I am back, baby!**

**Review, please. **


	26. Chapter 26

I went straight home after school. I didn't talk to anyone after Namine. I didn't look for Riku or Sora in the parking lot. I didn't even say goodbye when I saw Olette and Hayner walking to Hayner's car.

I had to get home and make sure my mom was all right. She was so happy she probably couldn't tell if she was in danger or not. I had promised myself that I would tolerate _his_ presence as long as she was happy and unharmed. If that man so much as raised his voice at her, I would call the cops.

She was still at work when I biked around the corner. Her new Aston Martin was gone. But my father's Lamborghini was still parked in the street. He wasn't going to work, as far as I could tell. I don't know what his job is right now, but whatever it is that he does it sure pays well. He'd offered to buy me a car, but I don't have my license. I wouldn't have accepted anything from him anyway, even if he got me every fancy car in the world.

When I walked into the house, I heard him in the family room watching T.V. I went into the kitchen and dumped my stuff on the kitchen table. I was just starting my geometry homework when he walked into the kitchen. He had a beer in his hand. Was he drunk? He smiled with every appearance of a good father and sat down opposite me. I ignored him and continued working.

"How was school today, Kairi?"

"Fine."

"And your friends?"

'They're fine."

"I hear there's a dance tomorrow at your school. Are you going?"

I stopped working but didn't look up. "I'm trying to do homework."

He sounded annoyed. "I'm just trying to find out more about my daughter, sweetheart. Why don't you let me?"

Was he joking? He had to be, because that was the funniest thing I'd heard in ages. Did he honestly believe that I was going to forgive him and just act like everything was normal? I looked up from my homework and smiled sweetly at him, which seemed to throw him off a little. "I know you're trying to find out more about me, _Dad_. But there's one problem with that: I hate you. I don't want you to know anything about me."

He looked shocked, then deeply hurt. I resisted the urge to laugh. He stood up from his chair and looked at me. "I'm sorry you feel that way, honey. You know I love you and your mother very much." He stood there and waited for me to answer.

I looked him dead in the eye and said "Tell it to someone who believes you."

That did it. With one swift motion, he swept my books off the table and got in my face. "Young lady, I'm your father! I've been working my ass off for you and your mother. You'll show me some respect!" I jumped to my feet, my temper flaring dangerously. "You don't deserve any of my respect! What good have you _ever_ done for me?"

He looked like he might punch something, so I prudently shifted so that we were separated by the table and chairs. I continued my tirade. "You used to hit me and Mom all the time! We were better off without you! So _go away_!" I was fervently grateful to the universe that my mom was at work instead of here. She wouldn't understand why I'm fighting with him. She would try to break up the fight, play the peacemaker, like she always did before.

We screamed at each other for a few minutes. I knew that he wasn't drunk, because if he was, he would have been throwing things. We both stormed off and went to opposite sides of the house when we were done yelling. My mom didn't get home until late that night, but by then my father was already asleep. But I wasn't. I was too busy praying that he would get hit by a truck first thing in the morning.

Which he didn't, sadly.

The next day at school was a relief. There was talk of nothing but the dance, which brought me out of my melancholy for at least a little while. I had my dress already picked out: it was pale pink and had satin flowers embroidered on the straps and hem. Namine's was white, and it flowed gracefully around her legs when she moved. Olette's was orange with a lighter orange gossamer veil that wrapped around the bodice. And the guys had decided to wear identical tuxes, which I thought was cute.

At lunch it was all we could talk about. Namine was going to wear long, white gloves with her dress, and she had brought them to school with her to show them to Olette. She glanced at me the whole time, like she was worried that I would spill the real reason that she was going to wear the gloves – but I said nothing about the cuts on her arms, which were almost healed.

I helped Pence with the plans for transportation to the dance. Olette's dad was going to let us use the company's limousine, which was way cool of him. It would come pick everybody up at their respective homes, starting at Olette's place and ending with me.

I was excited. I would be sleeping over at Olette's house with Namine after the dance, which meant that I wouldn't have to see the world's worst dad until tomorrow. I didn't want to leave my mom alone with him for that long, but I figured that she would be all right with him there for one night. After all, he'd been here for a week already, and nothing had gone wrong yet.

But if anything _did_ go wrong, I would call Riku, tell him I was being robbed, have him come to my house, and let him beat my father to a pulp with a tree branch.

I allowed myself to daydream like that for the rest of the day. But I hadn't even thought of Riku or Sora for a week, much less spoken to them. What if they didn't answer me when I called? That made me feel a bit sad. I hadn't spoken to them in a long time – were they all right? Were they mad at me for not hanging out the past few days?

I made a promise to myself that I would call Sora later and see if he would meet me at the dance. I still wanted him to be my date, even though it probably wouldn't be fun for him to go out with a wreck like me. I would ask Riku if he wanted to go, too. I bet that they would be able to get along with my friends a little better now, after all the stuff that had happened.

School became a countdown made up of classes. I waited impatiently for school to get out, almost tripping over myself when the final bell rang. I hurried down to my locker to get my stuff, then I whipped out my phone and called Riku.

I walked outside to sit on the concrete steps while the phone rang. After the fifth ring, Riku picked up and said "Hello?"

"Hey." I tried to keep my voice upbeat. "What's up? I haven't seen you guys all week."

A pause. "Yeah. Sorry about that."

"Oh, no problem. But I was just wondering, are you guys going to the dance tonight? It'd be way more fun if you were both there."

I heard him talk to someone near him. Then he talked back into the speaker. "Um, I'm not sure. We'll try to be there, okay?"

Trying to keep the disappointment out of my voice, I said "Oh, okay. Yeah, so maybe I'll see you guys there. I'll talk to you later, all right?"

"Sure. Bye."

"Bye."

I clapped my phone shut and sighed. Oh, well. At least I was going to the dance with my friends, which would be really fun. I kept thinking about the positives as I made my way home, trying to use Sora's method of staying sane. _Just keep smiling. It will all be better soon._

Riku was silent the whole way back to the hangout. Sora was staring quietly out the Deathtrap's window, not attempting to bring his somber friend into conversation.

Riku was thinking about the way he had found Sora the morning after the party. He'd been barfing in the bathroom for a good ten minutes before Riku dared to open the door. Sora had looked awful; dark circles were under his eyes, he had a pallid skin color, and he'd been trembling all over.

Riku had been completely disgusted, but he'd stayed with Sora anyway. He took up a seat on the edge of the bathtub, remaining mercifully silent. When he was finally able to speak coherently, Sora's first question surprised Riku: "Did I sleep with some random chick last night?" he asked feebly.

Riku frowned. "No. Well, you almost did, but you passed out before anything serious could happen. She was pretty mad about it, too. But she ended up making out with Demyx in the corner, so I wouldn't worry about her too much."

Sora leaned his head back against the wall, relief flooding through him. He glanced wearily at Riku. "I screwed up." It was a statement, not a question. Riku stared steadily ahead at the sink, not betraying any emotion. He nodded, confirming Sora's thoughts.

Sora exhaled loudly, feeling an even bigger headache coming on. He examined his bare torso and looked questioningly at Riku. "What happened to my shirt?"

Riku suppressed a smile, despite everything. "Um, it kinda got torn in half when you were with that girl. She was not gonna wait, let me tell you."

Sora groaned. "Come on. That was my favorite shirt." He closed his eyes. "Why don't you tell me what I did last night? I can't remember anything at all."

Riku sighed and told him everything, from the wild singing and dancing to the close call with the drugs, and ending with the almost-but-not-quite-one-night stand. Sora turned positively green when Riku told him all the things he had to drink. When it came to the girls, Sora's face burned with embarrassment and shame. "I can't believe I did all that," he said softly, "I don't even know what made me do it in the first place."

The little car rumbled along the street toward the hangout. They hadn't gone anywhere except for school that whole week, giving Sora time to recover. He was still mentally out of it, and Riku was planning on fixing that.

When they got out of the car, Riku stopped Sora before they reached the front door. "Hey, we're going to the dance thing tonight. You've been in a funk all week, and we're going to get you out of it." He waited for Sora to say something back.

"I don't know, man." Was all the response he got.

Riku thought for a moment. An idea popped into his head, one he didn't particularly like, but one that he knew would get Sora to go for sure. "Kairi will be there."

Sora cocked his head to the side. "She will?" he asked skeptically. Riku nodded quickly. Sora considered the notion for a few seconds. He looked back at Riku. "All right, we'll go."

When I got home, I went straight upstairs to take a shower. Getting myself ready for the dance was going to be a bit of a challenge – I wanted to look my best, but I wanted to get out of the house as fast as I could. It was bad enough that my father had decided to show up in my life; I wasn't about to share one second of anything fun with him.

I took the fastest shower on record and put on all my makeup in three minutes flat. Next I changed into my dress and grabbed my shoes out of the closet. They were black and pink satin ballet flats – Olette had picked them out for me. I didn't like them much, but then again, I usually wore ratty old gym shoes. I wasn't exactly an expert in footwear.

I tugged the shoes onto my feet and glanced at myself in the mirror. I have to admit, I looked pretty good. I'd left my hair in its usual straight style, and I'd put on my favorite necklace to complete the look. I didn't usually get all dressed up with the makeup and jewelry and everything, but when I did, I made sure I did it right.

When I had deemed that I was ready, I picked up the little bag that I was bringing with me and headed out my bedroom door. I tried to move unnoticed through the house, but I wasn't successful. My mom was waiting for me in the kitchen, camera in hand.

She gasped when she saw me. "Oh, Kairi! You look so beautiful."

I grinned wryly. "I know, it's a big shock to everyone. I didn't know if I could pull it off." I laid the sarcasm on thickly, feeling a little embarrassed at receiving the compliment. I shrugged off my discomfort and said "But thanks for saying so."

She smiled at me and snapped a picture with her camera. "Of course. It's a mother's prerogative to tell her daughter that she looks wonderful." She snapped more pictures. I tried a few different poses, and we laughed. I wasn't exactly destined for a career in modeling. In my mind, I saw just the two of us in the house, acting silly like we used to. It was a wonderful little moment, soon to be smothered and forgotten.

My mom paused for a moment to look at the pictures she'd just taken. "Oh, wait until your dad sees you. He'll just love it!"

"I'll love what?" Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

The grin slid off my face. The glee from a moment before fled the kitchen, leaving me all alone. I stared at the floor, steadfastly refusing to look up at the man standing next to my mother. I heard my mom jabbering on and on about how great I looked, and how excited she was for me. It was sickening now, not flattering.

I saw a pair of shoes appear in front of me. I glanced up for one quick second, which was my first mistake. Good old dad was beaming down at me, apparently forgetting our fight.

"You look so pretty, Princess." He said warmly.

The words bounced around in my head before I could make sense of them. My stomach dropped. The urge to throw up gnawed at me from the inside, making me feel horribly nauseous.

_What's the matter, Princess?_

_You know what? I don't care what you're whining about. _

_Just shut _up_ already! Or I'll make you be quiet. _

_I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. You know daddy loves his girls. You know Daddy loves you, Princess._

I swayed on my feet, slowly coming back to the present. I blinked a few times and didn't respond. My father noticed and frowned slightly. "Is something wrong?" He reached out one of his hands, intending to reassure me through the gesture.

I recoiled like it was a snake. "Don't," I muttered.

Oh, how his handsome features mimicked concern. "Princess, what's the matter? Are you feeling okay?" He tried to pull me in again. This time, I slapped his hand away. "I said _don't_."

He looked upset. No, _pissed off _would be the right terminology. "Don't what? I'm not doing anything."

I glared at the space above his head. My mom was three feet away, not doing anything. I wanted to keep it that way. "Don't touch me. You might smudge my makeup." I grumbled, hoping he would go for it.

He did. His expression cleared, and some of the Bambi-eyed mirth returned to his boyish features. I wanted to scratch out those beautiful blue eyes even as they smiled at me. I wanted him to burst into flames, and I wanted the ashes to fall off the face of the earth. I wanted every single thing he did to me and my mom to happen to him.

But as long as my mom was happy, it didn't matter what I wanted. Hell, I would even save him from certain death if it'd keep her happy.

"I have to go." I said loudly, cutting off any further conversation. I walked to my mom and gave her a quick hug, squeezing her tightly. I didn't so much as glance at my father. "Oh, Mom," I said as I was leaving through the front door, "I'm sleeping over at Olette's afterward. Don't forget, okay?"

She nodded. "I'll remember. Have fun, and dance with some nice boys!" she called, giving me a sly wink at the last words. I smiled at her and closed the door.

I picked up my sleepover bag and walked toward the street to wait for the limo. I didn't have to wait long – pretty soon, it pulled up, and all my friends greeted me with smiling faces. Everybody looked great; it was like riding in a car with teenage royalty. We joked and we sang, and we stuck our heads out of the sunroof when no one was looking. My night was already awesome, and we weren't even at the dance yet.

We were in the car for a total of twenty minutes (we stopped back at Olette's house to drop off our stuff for the sleepover) before we stopped in front of the school. The music was already blasting so loudly that it could be heard in outer space, and all the other kids that were just arriving joined us as we made our way through the gym doors. We handed our tickets to the teacher sitting at the table by the entrance and deposited our purses and shoes at one of the other tables lining the dance floor.

And then it was time to dance. I'm not a terrible dancer, but Olette put everyone to shame with her mad skills. She and Hayner didn't just grind like most of the other couples out on the floor; they actually danced with each other. And to tell the truth, it looked like they were some professional dance couple who just decided to drop by our school dance. Pence, in contrast to Olette and Hayner, was absolutely adorable. He rocked the robot, the sprinkler, and the swim. He made the eighties look good, and that's nearly impossible. Namine didn't really do much at first, but when she got going, she was almost as good a dancer as Olette. It was a bit of a shock, but in a good way.

It was so much fun. For the first hour and a half, we didn't stop dancing. I didn't know half the songs, but that was okay. The ones I did know were the ones that my friends and I would sing at the tops of our lungs, drawing curious stares from several other partygoers. Some of them even started to sing along with us.

After that first hour and a half, a bunch of slow songs came on, so our group decided to take a breather. We dropped into seats at the table, our breathing ragged from the nonstop movement. Hayner got up and got everyone punch from the refreshment stand in the corner of the gym, much to my relief. I was dying of thirst.

When he got back, he plopped into the chair next to Olette and grinned. In a weird, deep voice, he started to chant at her. "Yeah, Olette's the freak with a wicked dancing streak! Better look out, or she'll have you exhausted for weeks!"

We all laughed. She pretended to be annoyed with him for a second, but quickly forgot about it when he started kissing her. Pence snickered at them and said "Wow, get a room, guys." Hayner didn't stop kissing Olette, but he did give Pence the finger, which made everybody giggle.

Seeing them make out reminded me of Sora, and I wondered where he was. I stood up to get more punch, carful not to spill any on my dress. I loitered around the concession table, hoping to catch a glimpse of Riku or Sora among the dancing kids. It's not like I wouldn't have fun if they weren't there, but it'd be even more fun if they were.

After a few minutes of searching the crowd, I gave up. I walked back to the table, where I found my friends ready for round two of dancing. But now, there was a short girl with brown hair talking to Pence. I thought I recognized her from one of my classes, but I wasn't sure.

When I was about a yard away from the table, I saw a familiar face out of the corner of my eye. Towering above the rest of the kids, Riku was clearly visible, even in the dim light. I felt a grin spread from ear to ear, and I started to call out to him.

"Riku! Hey, over here!" His bright eyes found mine, and he gave me his version of a smile. He started making his way over to me, and someone was coming with him.

He and Sora stopped in front of me, looking very handsome in their suits. I smiled and hugged the both of them, not caring if it was a little strange or not.

"You look great," Riku complimented me. Sora nodded in agreement. I blushed slightly and smiled. "Thanks. You guys look pretty good yourselves."

They laughed and thanked me, explaining that they had borrowed the suits from some friends of theirs. At least, I think that's what they meant. I shoved all thoughts of thievery from my head and grinned at them. "I'm so glad you guys made it!" I said cheerfully. "I was worried that something might've happened to you." Riku shrugged and smiled. Sora looked sheepish.

"Riku was the one who actually convinced me to come." Sora confessed. I gave him a puzzled smile. "Why did you need convincing? It _is_ a dance, after all." He shrugged and smiled back at me. "It's a long story. Maybe I'll explain later. Hey, aren't those your friends over there?"

I looked to where he was pointing. "Yeah, they are. Come on, let's go see them."

They resisted at first, but I eventually got them to come with me to get reacquainted with my friends. Thankfully, it wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be. Olette greeted them with a brilliant smile, and Pence and Hayner treated them like long-lost friends. Even the brunette girl who was talking to Pence was cordial. Namine was in the bathroom at the moment, so we decided to wait on going back to the dance floor until she got back.

Sora and I were catching up on what we'd missed telling each other for the past week. Well, I didn't tell him anything about my dad, but I could sense that he was hiding something as well. So I didn't feel as bad as I would have if he'd been totally honest.

"Hey, Riku, did you ever get the truck free from the garage?" I asked, trying to get him to take part in the conversation. "Or are you still driving the 'Deathtrap,' as Sora called it?"

He smiled wryly. "I don't know why you guys call it that. It really isn't that bad."

Sora snorted. "Yeah, it is."

But I noticed that Riku wasn't focusing on me or Sora anymore. He was looking at someone just behind us, his expression unreadable. He only got like that when it was something really, really good or really, really bad. And after all the times I've spent with that look, I was more inclined to believe that it was a bad thing coming up behind us.

Slowly, I turned my head to glance over my shoulder. I scanned the crowd of dancing teens for the Organization, but I didn't see anyone I recognized. Well, except for Namine, who was heading right toward us from the direction of the bathroom. I turned around and glanced at Riku. He was still staring with that indecipherable expression. But where was the threat?

Unless . . . it _was_ a really good thing that he was looking at.

Namine joined us a few moments later. Riku and Sora both told her that she looked awesome. Then everyone got up and got on the dance floor. We started to dance to a fast-paced song that I'd never heard in my life. It had a great beat, but it was only about two minutes long. After it ended, a slow song came on, one that I actually knew: I'll Be by the Goo Goo Dolls. It's a cheesy song, but I love it.

Hayner and Olette flowed smoothly into the slower dance, the very picture of grace. Pence awkwardly told Namine and me that the short girl (her name was Shea) wanted to dance with him, and asked us if that was okay. We told him to stop being ridiculous and to dance with her, which he seemed more than happy to do.

Namine and I stood there uncomfortably for a couple of seconds. With all the couples dancing around us, it was even more embarrassing.

Suddenly there was a tap on my shoulder. I turned and Sora was standing uneasily before me, looking extremely awkward. "Um, you want to dance?" he asked abruptly.

Now, truth be told, fireworks were going off in my head, but something held me back. I didn't want to leave Namine by herself. I smiled apologetically at him. "I'd love to, but I can't just leave Namine hanging, you know?"

He looked surprised, then embarrassed. "Oh. Right. I'm sorry," he said to the both of us.

"I'll dance with her."

Namine and I turned around to see Riku standing there with that same unreadable expression. His eyes softened when they met hers. "I mean, if that's okay with you."

She looked mildly surprised. "Oh, no, that's okay. You don't have to do that."

He smiled at her, a real, genuine smile. "No, I don't have to. But I want to."

Sora and I shared a quick sideways glance.

Namine's blue eyes widened. "Oh. Well, I guess that'd be okay." She said in a small voice.

Riku nodded. "Okay then." He held out his arms to her, waiting patiently.

I held my breath. Hayner had told me once that after what the Organization did to her, Namine couldn't stand being touched by any guy, except for Roxas. And even he couldn't do more than give her a quick peck on the cheek, not that he had ever pressed her for more than that. But now that he was gone, how would Namine act around other guys? Especially Riku, who was practically born and raised in the Organization?

For a few heart pounding seconds, Namine did nothing. Then, hesitantly, she laid her hands on Riku's outstretched arms. I breathed out a sigh of relief, grateful that she was handling it well.

I turned and looked at Sora. "You still want to dance?" I asked glibly. He nodded slowly, a smile spreading over his features. "You know it."

I raised my arms and entwined them around his neck. He gingerly put his arms around my waist, and for some reason he seemed really nervous. It's not like we've never been in physical contact with each other before. What was there to be nervous about?

I tried to look him in the eye, but he avoided my gaze. Shifting slightly so that I could see his face better, I said "Hey, are you okay? You seem like you don't want to be here."

He looked troubled. "No, that's not it. It's just . . . I don't know."

I examined his face, searching for a clue about what he was thinking. I didn't find anything. "Well, is anything bothering you?"

He looked like he was going to tell me something, but thought better of it. "Nah. Nothing's wrong." Traces of his old smile were appearing, like the sun emerging from behind the clouds. "I'm just worried that I might step on your feet or something. I suck at dancing."

After that, it was easy. I danced with Sora for a solid two hours without realizing that any time had gone by. Everything around us faded into oblivion, and I felt like we were the only two people in the world that mattered. Nothing could bother me; not my dad, not my friends, not the Organization, and certainly not the dividing line between Sora's world and mine.

I could have danced with Sora forever, but it _was_ a school dance, after all. So when the teachers announced that it was 11:00, all the students started to pack up. Sora and I reluctantly parted from each other and went back to the table to get our stuff.

Have you ever noticed that while you're dancing, you don't feel tired or sweaty? Then the second you _stop_ dancing, the first thing you want to do is drop into a chair out of exhaustion, then the second thing you want to do is take a really long shower. Luckily, Olette was going to let me and Namine make use of her family facilities when we got back to her house.

Namine, Olette and I said goodbye to Hayner and Pence (who seemed to be quite taken with little miss Shea), and promised them that we would try and get together to hang out tomorrow. Pence teased me a little, telling me not to drop off the face of the earth again. That comment stung a bit, and for a moment I was dying to tell them about my father. But common sense took over, and I suppressed the urge to say anything. I just smiled and accepted the friendly mockery, saying that I'd definitely hang out tomorrow, no matter what.

As we were heading out the door, Riku and Sora intercepted us. Olette said something about leaving her purse at the table (even though we could all see it in her hand) and scurried off. Namine and I both rolled our eyes at each other and turned to the boys.

"It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be, coming here." Riku said to us, though he kept his eyes on Namine far longer than he kept them on me. Sora grinned and nodded.

"Yeah. I'm glad Riku talked me into it. This was way better than chilling at . . ." Sora's eyes darted to Namine. ". . . at the mall or something." It was a lame cover-up, but at least he tried.

Namine didn't seem to notice. She smiled sweetly at the two of them and said "Yeah, I had way more fun than I thought I would, too. And having you guys here made it even better." Her voice kind of faltered at the end. She shyly looked up at Riku from under her eyelashes, attempting to keep smiling.

Riku's face turned carefully blank. Everyone could clearly tell that he had shut down his emotions. Namine lowered her eyes, looking almost ashamed.

I saw Riku's expression shift slightly, his features softening almost imperceptibly. He reached for Namine's shoulder, but he had forgotten her boundaries. She shrank back from his touch like it burned, her expression betraying her sudden fear. You have to treat her like an abused puppy (irony much?). You let her make the moves. If you let her feel like she has some control, she'll be more likely to respond in a positive way.

He hastily drew his arm back. "Sorry." He said quickly.

She took a breath. "No, it's fine. Not your fault."

He did his best to take down the mask. "You sure you're okay?" he asked carefully. She nodded and stared at the floor, her ability to look him in the eye completely gone.

He looked pained, but he made it give way to a small smile. "Well, I just wanted to say thanks for dancing with me. Any other guy would've been lucky to dance with you."

That seemed to have an effect on her. Mustering her courage, she slowly lifted her gaze from her shoes and met his eyes. "I wouldn't have danced with just any other guy. But, thank you for saying that. It was really fun."

He nodded. "Yeah, it was." He cleared his throat and looked away. "I think I'm gonna go wait by the truck." He glanced once more at me and Namine. "You guys were great. I'll see you later, then?" he asked slowly, maybe with a trace of hope?

I grinned at him. "Yeah, of course."

Namine nodded. Then she said "Hey, we might be hanging out tomorrow. Do you guys want to come?" She blurted it out so fast that I didn't understand her at first. When the message unraveled itself in my brain, I almost keeled over in shock. But my complete astonishment was overshadowed by a bit of pride and excitement. Way to go, Namine!

Riku and Sora glanced at each other, shrugged, and said "Sure."

I smiled at the three of them. "Okay, great! So we'll see you tomorrow then? 'Cause I think Olette is going to have a cow if we don't get going soon." The two of them nodded, and we said goodbye. Namine and I were moving towards the parking lot when Sora's hand reached out and grabbed mine. He pulled me back toward him, and I sort of tripped and fell against him. Oops.

He caught me and held me up, grinning at my klutziness. "Just wanted to say, I really liked it tonight. You know, dancing with you and stuff." He whispered it so softly that it was hard to hear him. When I tried to respond, he immediately silenced me by crushing his lips to mine.

After a few breathless moments, he pulled away, leaving me without a single coherent thought in my head. He smiled. "So I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

Still incapable of speech, I just nodded. He grinned at me and walked away, seeming to take all the air in the room with him.

The sleepover was pretty epic. After the three of us took showers and put on our comfiest pajamas, we ate junk food and watched bad movies. At around three or four in the morning, we were too tired to watch another movie, so we crashed on the couch in Olette's basement, which was big enough to accommodate six people at least.

We talked for a while. You never know what people will say in the early hours of the morning, so things got a bit interesting to say the least. I learned that Olette's biggest fear was spiders, and that her parents wanted her to get a full-ride scholarship to an Ivy League college, which explained her perfect grades and multiple extracurricular activities. I also learned that Namine's brother Cloud had decided to join the army along with Zack after Namine's run-in with the Organization.

"He said he'd get really strong so he could protect me from stuff." She said through a yawn.

Namine also told us some stories about her first few art classes with Roxas. Apparently, he'd been all aloof and standoffish until she was partnered with him. It seems that Namine has a talent for melting people's hearts.

I told them a few stories of my own. I talked about the towns I'd lived in, about my old friend Selphie, and about my mom. They wanted to know too much about the last subject; they asked too many questions. I carefully steered the conversation away from my mom, but not before Olette asked if my parents were divorced.

I didn't quite know how to answer that, because, truthfully, I didn't know the answer myself.

So we talked about other things. Olette saw Sora kissing me, which made me want to die from embarrassment. And she wouldn't leave it alone, either. She asked all these penetrating questions about our relationship, like if we were dating, if we'd kissed before, and all that kind of stuff. I gave her very few details, considering Namine was present, and I just didn't think that I could reveal too much of what was going on to my friends yet either.

Seeing that she wasn't getting any more out of me, Olette turned her attention to Namine. "So, what was Riku like?" she asked mischievously.

I wondered for a brief moment if it was too soon to be talking to Namine about other guys, but my worries were silenced when Namine shrugged and said "He was really nice."

Olette giggled. "Yes, he _is_ very nice – to look at! His biceps are like the size of my head!" she giggled some more.

I faked a gasp. "Olette! What would Hayner say if he heard that?" I smiled.

She shrugged. "I have eyes, don't I? I can appreciate good looks when I see them. Besides, he seems like the kind of guy that would keep you safe no matter what."

I chuckled. You have no idea, I thought to myself. I glanced at Namine. She looked pretty happy. Maybe – just maybe – Riku could keep contributing to her happiness. After all, who knows? He seemed pretty into her, and she was able to come into contact with him without freaking out too much. And Olette was right – Riku _would_ keep the people he cared about safe.

After we teased each other and talked for a while more, we nestled into the couch and drifted off to sleep. And I have to say, I felt a whole lot better staying here than I did at my own house.

The next morning, Olette's mom made us breakfast. Scrambled eggs, waffles, and fruit were all on the menu. I inhaled my food like I hadn't eaten in months. Truth be told, I hadn't eaten much in the past week. Stress will do that to you.

A little after ten, Namine and I were getting ready to leave. Namine's mom had offered me a ride home, so I wouldn't have to walk all the way back. I have to say, I felt safer with Mrs. Strife than I did with any other adult on the planet, including my mom. I mean, the lady had a shotgun and the will to use it. You can't compete with that.

Before we left, Olette reminded us to call her to talk about plans for later. Hayner and Pence had suggested that we all go see a movie, and Olette wanted to make sure everyone could go. She was even excited that Namine had invited Sora and Riku along.

"The more the merrier," she said with a sly wink in my direction.

After we'd promised to call her the second we'd confirmed our plans, Olette hugged us goodbye and waved to us as we pulled out of the driveway in Mrs. Strife's car.

We reached my house really quickly, and after I thanked Mrs. Strife and told Namine that I'd see her later, I hopped out of their car and took out my stuff. I shut the car door and waved to them as they pulled away from the curb and drove down the street.

When I was sure they had turned the corner, I let out a sigh and trudged up the steps to the front door. The way I had it figured, the sooner I was able to leave my house again, the better.

**A/N:**

**Hey, everybody! Long time no write. XD **

**I am sooo sorry it took me so much time to update. It's been way too long. **

**Anyway, here's my latest chapter. Hope you like it!**

**Review if you still like the story.**


	27. Chapter 27

I closed the door behind me and dropped my bag to the floor. "Mom, I'm home!" I called. No answer. I frowned and tried again. "Mom?"

I stood in the doorway for a minute, listening hard. Was she home? Or was she at work, catching up on some overdue projects? For the fist time, I looked around at the house. A painting was hanging horizontally on the wall. A vase was smashed on the floor, next to an overturned chair. A bottle had been thrown at the wall, leaving its contents to dry in a splattered mess on the yellow paint.

I heard voices coming from the kitchen, one soft and one loud. An argument.

My stomach clenched into knots. I cautiously made my way down the hallway, avoiding stepping on any broken glass. What had happened here?

I crept toward the kitchen, my heart pounding. I prayed that it wasn't as bad as it looked.

I rounded the corner and froze. Mom was at the kitchen table, facing away from me. Her shoulders were slumped, defeated. My father was sitting across from her, so that his cold blue eyes were looking right at me when I entered.

I couldn't access my limbs. Everything was frozen under that gaze. "What's going on?" I asked, sounding somewhere between angry and scared.

My father glanced coldly up at me. "Kairi, you stay out of this.'

My mom turned in her seat, suddenly aware that I was there. The right side of her face was dominated by a purple-green bruise. Her lip was split, and she'd been crying recently. "Kairi, what-"

There wasn't time for her to answer, because I was already screaming.

"Oh my God. I knew this would happen! You've been back for, what, a week? A whole frigging week and you pull this!"

Mom looked stricken. "Honey, it was nothing. It was my fault, really. Your father and I, we had a misunderstanding . . ."

I cut her off. "Mom, just shut up! Look what he did to you, _again_! You have no idea how to handle this, so _stay out of it!_"

My father slammed his hands on the table and stood up. "Don't you dare tell her to shut up. She works her ass off for you, and this is how you act?"

Words escaped me. My eyes literally couldn't go any wider. The emotions that erupted in me were too incredibly powerful for me to even express through facial expressions.

"You self-absorbed PIG! You low-life, arrogant bastard!" In a rage, I hurled my left shoe at him, then the right one. I was out of objects to throw, so I screamed some more as I made my way to the house phone. "Get the hell out of our house! We don't want you here! SO GET THE HELL _OUT_! And you'd better run fast, 'cause the cops have no tolerance for jerks like you"

I had the phone in my hand, but it was snatched away. I saw him glaring at me through a haze of red. If I hadn't been so furious, I definitely would have been scared. He took the receiver and slammed it into the side of my head, making stars dance in front of my eyes.

I lost my hearing for a second. When it came back, my mom was crying again, pathetically begging him to stop. She got up from the table and grabbed his arm, trying to talk some sense into him. He tried to shake her off, but when she persisted, he shoved her so hard that she hit the wall. She slid to the floor in a heap, her hands covering her face, sobs wracking her body.

I was still reeling from the telephone to the head. But even in my brain-rattled condition, I could still feel the anger well up, directed at both of my parents. I was madder than I ever was at my father, for obvious reasons, but I was also furious with my mother.

She had just given up on me. She had taken years to recover, to make herself believe she was worth something. After all that time she had spent trying to stand up, she let her love for my father win out, and she just let him knock her down again All the fight was gone–she didn't try to resist him. She wasn't ever going to break this cycle. I knew that because, even after all her talk of starting over and doing things right this time, here we were, back at square one. She was beaten down, and I was standing there watching.

I'd never hated my mom before, but what I was feeling was as close to hatred as I'd ever gotten with her. I hated how weak she was, I hated that she wouldn't get up the nerve to make him leave. He was in our house – _her_ house. And she was letting him run things the same way he had when _his_ name was on the deed.

She moved her hands from her eyes, still weeping loudly. She gave me this look, like _Help me_._ I'm so lost and confused and sorry._ I wanted to spit at her. She was the adult, and she was looking to her sixteen-year-old for comfort. _She_ was supposed to be protecting _me_, dammit! I'm her daughter!

I was so mad that I almost couldn't see straight – but that might have been from the phone to the head. And then, I figured something out. I finally had a target that I could _really_ take my anger out on. Besides, I had to draw his attention away from my mom, since she wouldn't defend herself if he chose to attack her again.

I let my rage boil over and turned on my father. She might not fight back, but _I_ was a different story entirely. I hauled back my arm and rammed my fist into his oh-so-perfect face. Once I'd gotten his attention, I opened up my clenched hand and let my nails rake bloody lines down his cheek. He howled in pain and grabbed my wrist so tightly that it hurt. When I couldn't pry his hand off, I spat in his face.

I blocked his next attempt to brain me with the phone. But I wasn't able to stop his other fist from connecting with my side. And my shoulder. And my face. After he landed a few more punches, I tried to get away again. Big mistake.

He threw me headfirst into a wall. I steadied myself before I could fall, and I stared at him, frozen like a rabbit. His icy blue eyes were narrowed to slits, and I realized that Axel wasn't the person I feared most in the world – it was dear ol' dad.

"What, you can dish it out, but you can't take it? Look at you; acting like you're all big and tough. You're more pathetic than she is. You're just a big coward, with a big mouth."

I pressed myself harder into the wall; the fear of what was coming making me want to disappear.

"Well, let's see just how tough you _really_ are."

It lasted for what felt like a long time. I won't go into great detail on it. Here are some words to help you fill in the blanks: Kick, slap, punch, shove, scratch, claw, push, pull, and pain. Lots of pain. Punches that bruised. Another phone to the head. Shoves that threw me into the wall. The floor coming up to meet me. I screamed, and I begged, and I even apologized.

Towards the end, I wasn't even defending myself anymore. I figured, _hey, I can't hurt any more than I do right now. _But I would not let him have the satisfaction of seeing me cry. So I held it in. I stayed silent.

He left me alone, eventually. I was curled in a ball on the floor, lying with my back against the kitchen wall. I hurt so much that it wasn't even pain anymore; it was more like a throbbing ache that reached into my bones, making me want to stop feeling anything at all.

My mom had fled the scene a while ago. I didn't know or care where she was. I didn't really care about anything for a while, except how annoying the blood was that kept running into my eye.

Sora and Riku kept glancing at the clock tower, wondering where Kairi could be. They'd met up with Olette, Hayner, Pence, and Namine as planned, but Kairi still hadn't shown up.

Olette shielded her eyes from the sun and squinted up at the clock tower. "Guys, did you hear anything from her after she left my place this morning? She said that she'd call me back as soon as she got her mom to let her go."

Hayner and Pence shrugged. "We haven't heard from her since yesterday." Pence said. "We thought she would show up with one of you guys." He glanced over at Riku and Sora. "Did either of you talk to her today?"

Riku shook his head. "No, not today. Sora?"

Sora frowned and said "No, I haven't heard from her." He wondered what she was doing that could be keeping her for so long. He and Riku had both texted her, but there was no answer. She hadn't responded to Namine's or Olette's messages, either. He glanced at the enormous clock again, willing Kairi to show up soon.

After another ten minutes, Olette reluctantly said "I'm really sorry, guys, but we have to go now if we're going to see that movie. Kairi knows where it is; if she's running late, then she can meet up with us there, okay?"

Everyone nodded halfheartedly. But cheerful conversation soon descended upon the group, bringing an end to any questioning thoughts about Kairi's absence. Sora was the only one to give a quick backward glance in the direction of Kairi's house. Then he turned around and kept walking.

I was in a cocoon. My mind was numb, but my body sure wasn't. I wish it was. Every inch of me felt raw, like I'd been rubbed down with industrial grade sandpaper. Some places were much worse than others, but nothing felt okay.

Thoughts came and went through the fogginess in my head. I briefly remembered that I was supposed to meet my friends, but the idea slipped away from me, drifting back into the far reaches of my mind.

Time was strangely altered, sometimes unnaturally fast, sometimes unbearably slow. I wanted to be unconscious so incredibly badly, but he hadn't hit my head hard enough for that. Was that something to be thankful for? I couldn't remember.

I tried my best to clear my head, but it was so hard to focus. All I wanted to do was sleep . . . it just hurt so much.

_Stop it, _I thought fiercely. If I didn't get up now, then I'd probably never feel like getting up..

I don't know how long I had stayed on the floor, but I eventually gathered enough strength to sit up. Every muscle screamed in protest, and the room spun dangerously, but I managed to stay up. I let the wall support me until the dizziness died down, then I forced myself onto my hands and knees, taking things very slowly and carefully. After a few weak attempts, I pushed myself into a standing position, one hand braced against the wall for support.

Even breathing hurt. My ribs felt cracked. I shut my eyes and let my head drop a little, hoping to ease the soreness in my chest. When I opened my eyes and looked at the ground, I saw little puddles of blood smudged on the floor, warped into bizarre shapes from my hair running through it.

The sight of it made me feel sick, even more so than I'd felt just moments before. How badly was I hurt? I thought it would be best if I went to the bathroom and got cleaned up. But walking was a chore; even the soles of my feet were killing me.

Miraculously, I reached the second floor and made it down the hall. I closed the bathroom door behind me, locking out the rest of the world. When I looked in the mirror, I gave myself a heart attack. I looked ten times worse than I felt, and that was saying something. I reached a hand up to my forehead, where the blood was just starting to clot over the gash that left blood on the kitchen floor. Blood was in my hair, pouring from my nose, and gathering in the corner of my mouth.

The hand-shaped bruises on my arms reminded me of when Sora had tried to strangle me. But that was nothing compared to these. The edges were a nasty green-purple, and the very centers were a deep brownish color. It was hard to believe that I'd forgotten what this was like, to be in so much pain mentally and physically.

I felt the tears welling up then, a sob catching in my throat before it could escape. I choked back the oncoming waterworks, afraid that someone would hear me cry. I checked the lock on the door to make sure it was secure, and then I turned on the shower. While the water was warming up, I looked in the cabinet behind the mirror for some Advil or something. I found the bottle in the very back, in the corner of the cabinet. I took four, but I thought five would be pushing it.

I looked at the shower. The water looked so warm and inviting, promising a little relief from this terrible ache. Still fully dressed, I stepped under the stream of water, letting it wash over me. After a moment, I sank to the floor and, still under the comforting flow water, I drew my knees up to my chest. Then, and only then, did I allow myself to cry, my sobs drowned out by the rushing of the water.

**A/N:**

**Guys who beat up girls should be shot. End of story.**

**Review, please.**


	28. Chapter 28

Riku and Sora were on their way home in the Deathtrap, still chatting amiably about their outing with Kairi's friends. Riku had spent most of his time with Namine, while Sora had done his best to chill with everyone. Things had gone smoothly, more so than they had expected. The only thing that had been missing was Kairi.

"I wonder where she is." Sora said out loud. Riku barely even glanced at him as he drove. "Who?"

"Kairi, idiot." Sora said thoughtfully. He kept staring out the window, impervious to Riku's dirty look. Realizing that his glare had no effect whatsoever, Riku heaved a sigh and turned his attention back to the road. After a while, he said "I'm sure she's at home. She probably had stuff to do."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Like what? It's a Saturday."

Riku shrugged. "I don't know. Chores, maybe? I know that's a foreign concept to you, but some people actually attempt to keep their living space clean."

"I keep things clean."

"Have you seen your room? The place is a black hole."

Images of clothes, plates, wrappers, and unidentifiable pieces of food piled on the floor popped up in Sora's head. He decided not to argue the point any further. Instead, he went back to staring out the window, trying to think of something to use against Riku. Nothing came to mind. This put Sora in a bit of a bad mood, so when Riku's voice finally broke into his thoughts, he snapped his reply. "What?"

Riku looked slightly amused. "No need to get mad," he said mildly. "I was just asking if you wanted to drop by and see if Kairi was home."

Sora let the thought sink in. Suddenly, he grinned. "Yeah, good idea. Let's go." Riku nodded in agreement and took the next right turn. They rode in silence for a few minutes, each boy absorbed in his own thoughts. Sora was thinking of how Kairi looked at the dance the previous night – elegant, hot, and cute all rolled into one. Thinking of the dance made him think of Riku dancing with Namine, which made him think of Riku's feelings for Kairi.

A question emerged in his mind, but he didn't know if it would be okay to ask. He shot a sideways glance at Riku, trying to figure out how to say it. "Hey. Question." He blurted.

Riku kept his eyes on the road. "Yeah?"

Sora took a breath. Since there wasn't any delicate way to ask, he decided to just say it. "Do you still like Kairi?"

Riku rolled his eyes. "No, Sora. I decided to hate her for no good reason."

Sora made a face. "Shut up. You know what I meant. But seriously, though – do you still like her?"

Riku blinked, but didn't react. "Where did that come from?"

Sora shrugged, suddenly feeling like a moron for asking. "I don't know, man. It's just that, you know, you were talking to Namine today, and you danced with her last night. Do you like Namine, or do you still like Kairi, or is this all in my head?"

Riku was silent for a while, staring through the windshield at the late afternoon sun. Sora was about to apologize for asking such a stupid question when Riku spoke up. "I guess I don't know."

Sora frowned. "Wait, about which part?"

Riku seemed to get a bit annoyed. "The parts about Kairi and Namine, stupid. Although, the part about it all being in your head could also be true. What with your 'questionable mental stability' and all." He laughed, quoting the school counselor. Sora tried to keep a straight face, but ended up cracking a smile anyway. He had to admit, it was pretty funny.

After that, they dropped the subject, choosing instead to make bets on what Kairi would be doing when they rang her doorbell. Sora bet that she would be napping or watching T.V., and Riku bet that she would be doing something productive with her time.

When they pulled up to her house, they couldn't help but notice the insanely nice cars parked in the driveway. Riku emitted a low whistle. "Damn, I have got to get one of those." He said, almost in awe of the Lamborghini and the Aston Martin. Sora stared in wonder at the two cars, wondering how on earth Kairi and her mom had managed to get them.

Riku threw the Deathtrap into park on the street, and got out of the car. Sora jumped out of the decrepit little thing, which was even more pathetic looking when compared to the two masterpieces in Kairi's driveway.

Riku and Sora carefully made their way to the closer car, the Lamborghini. Its shiny black paint job reflected their faces back at them, and it was all Sora could do not to hop into the driver's seat and ride away with it. And if it was making him feel that way, it had to be twice as bad for Riku. Sora glanced over at him, and he could almost see the wheels turning in his head.

"Wonder how long it would take to take it apart and put it back together," Riku murmured, his inner mechanic taking over. Sora suppressed a smile. If it had wheels and an engine, Riku would automatically want to know how it worked. The only reason he worked at the skate shop instead of a garage was because none of the garages in town had been hiring when he needed a job.

As they were admiring the leather interior, a voice interrupted their thoughts. "Hey, what are you two doing?"

Sora looked up. A man with remarkable blue eyes and rumpled brown hair was making his way toward them from the opposite side of the yard. Sora estimated him to be in his early forties.

He straightened up. "Uh, sorry, sir. Is this your car?"

The man nodded, a hint of pride seeping into his expression. "Damn straight. You like it?" When the man smiled, Sora noticed the four angry red gashes down one cheek.

Riku nodded, still preoccupied with thoughts of exhaust pipes and gas mileage. "Absolutely. This might be the coolest car I've ever seen. Well, this and the Aston Martin over there," he said absently, gesturing toward the silvery blue car.

Sora saw the other car farther up the driveway and remembered why they were there. He shook his head to clear it and smiled. "So, are you here to visit the Avery's? Are you, like, Mrs. Avery's friend or something?"

The man snorted. "I guess you could say that. She's my wife."

Sora's eyes widened. "You're Kairi's dad?" he asked incredulously.

The man looked puzzled for a moment. "Yeah, I'm her father. Are you two friends of hers?"

Sora regained his composure and answered him before Riku could respond. "Sort of. We go to school together." He said smoothly, putting a friendly smile on his face. Mr. Avery seemed to relax. He settled back on his heels and started talking about cars with Riku. While they did that, Sora's mind was going a thousand miles an hour. This was the man Kairi had told him about during that thunderstorm? Kairi had said that they had ditched him a long time ago. Why was he here now? Were Kairi and her mom okay?

Something about the red lines on Mr. Avery's cheek seemed wrong to Sora. They kept drawing his attention, completely out of place on the otherwise unmarked face. He waited for a break in the conversation, then he asked "Hey, Mr. Avery, if you don't mind me asking, how did you get those scratches on your face?"

The man laughed easily and said "Oh, these? It was a complete accident. I had a run-in with an angry pet belonging to one of the neighbors."

_Yeah, right, _Sora thought. "Oh. I see." he said, feigning polite interest. "One more thing – is Kairi home?"

The perfect smile became the tiniest bit strained. "She's out with some friends right now. I'm afraid you just missed her."

Riku snapped out of his engine-powered daze and shared a glance with Sora. They both knew that the others had gone home after the movie was over. They were the only two still out. Riku was starting to feel that something was wrong as well. He looked back at Mr. Avery. "Okay. Well, do you know when she'll be back?"

"I'm afraid I don't." was the short reply.

Sora shook his head. It was time to get out of there. "Well that sucks. Okay, we actually have to go now, but could you tell her we were looking for her?"

Mr. Avery nodded, smiling. "Sure thing. I'll let her know the second she gets back."

Riku and Sora thanked him and left with parting compliments about the cars. They managed to look unconcerned and relaxed until they were safely inside the Deathtrap. Sora thought this was ironic, since he never thought he'd feel safe in the Deathtrap in his life.

Once Riku had pulled away from the curb, he turned on Sora. "Okay, what the hell was that? I'm clearly missing something. I thought her dad was dead or something, not driving some fancy car around Twilight Town." After a pause, he asked "What did she tell you that she didn't tell me?"

Sora was too high-strung to worry about making Riku feel bad. So he filled him in on the conversation he'd had with Kairi during the blackout on the night of the thunderstorm, about how her dad used to beat up her mom and moved on to beating on her. When he told Riku about how Mr. Avery bought his family nice things to make up for what he'd done, Riku's face hardened.

"So that explains the cars." He said grimly.

Sora shook his head, not sure of what to do. "I don't know, man. What do you think it means?"

Riku gripped the steering wheel tighter. "Nothing good." He promised.

They tried to think of something to do the whole way back to the hangout. They wanted to make sure that Kairi was okay, but they weren't one hundred percent sure that she would want them around with her dad being home. Riku was the one who eventually decided that Sora should be the one to go and check on her.

"You're the better climber. I nearly killed myself the last time I tried to climb a tree. You should be the one to do it." He said reasonably.

Sora remained doubtful. "But you're way stronger than me. What if it comes to a fight or something? Besides, you want to see her just as much as I do."

"But you're the one that she'll want to have around, not me." Riku said bluntly, cutting off any argument.

Unhappily, Sora agreed. He would go to her house, wait awhile, and then he would climb up the tree and try to talk to her. Riku said that he would drive Sora there, and he would keep his phone with him in case there was a problem. "I'll drop you off around the corner, so they don't hear the engine running. But I have to head back to base after that. You'll call me when you need a ride back, got it?"

Sora nodded. "Sounds good. I'll let her know that you're worried about her too, okay?"

Riku almost smiled. "No, you won't. I'll strangle you if you do."

Sora shook his head. "Okay, then. Whatever you say, man."

A few hours later, Riku dropped Sora off around the corner from Kairi's house. After carefully shutting the car door, Sora quickly made his way down the street, avoiding the brighter lights from some of the houses. When he got to the house next to Kairi's, he had to duck behind a fence to miss being spotted by a neighbor who was taking out their garbage.

When the coast was clear, he ran across the lawn to Kairi's yard. He went around the side of the house, sprinting the last few yards to the tall old tree that led straight up to Kairi's window. He jumped up and grabbed on to the lowest branch, using his momentum to swing himself up into the tree. He clambered up the wide branches silently, trying not to alert anyone to his presence.

Less than a minute later, he was perched between two large branches that were a few feet away from the window. He saw that Kairi's light was on, so he figured that she was inside. He waited a while before he thought that it would be safe to try the window. The last thing he wanted was to let her parents know that someone was there.

Carefully, he edged his way along the branch, trying to see if she was even in the room. He saw her lying on her bed, her face turned away from him. He didn't understand why she was wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants, considering the warm weather. Taking a deep breath, he gently tapped on the window, trying to get her attention. When she didn't respond, he tried again, tapping harder on the glass. This time, she stirred slightly, turning her head to look at the window.

Sora's breath froze in his lungs. Her face . . . what had happened?

She must have seen his reaction, because she quickly pulled the hood of her sweatshirt up over her head. When she got up and walked towards him, he saw that it wasn't just her face. She was limping slightly, favoring her right leg.

The window opened, and she stared at him. "Sora, what are you doing here?" she asked softly. He couldn't find the words to respond. He gaped at the huge scab beginning to form over her left eyebrow, surrounded by a nasty bruise. It was oddly shaped, like something rectangular had struck her on the head.

She glanced behind her and looked back at him. "I'm sorry, but you have to go." She whispered.

That got his attention. Before she could close the window in his face, he snapped out an arm and held it open, giving himself a chance to slip inside her room. He steadied himself with the windowsill before he could trip and fall over the carpet. He looked back at Kairi, who was starting to look panicked.

"Sora, I said you had to leave." She said, gesturing at the tree outside. He didn't budge. He noticed that the shiner she had on one eye was starting to turn green at the edges. She saw him staring and pulled the hood down farther over her face. "I'm serious! Get out, _now_."

She tried to push him back to the window. She was really starting to get agitated. A hint of desperation made its way into her next words. "Please, just go! You need to leave already." she said, her attempts to push him away growing stronger with every word.

Sora just looked at her face, her pleas floating in one ear and out the other. Kairi was starting to get angry. "Stop staring at me like that! Just stop it, okay?"

He shook his head slowly, still not hearing her words. "When you weren't there today, I thought you were just running late. I didn't think . . ."

She punched him in the shoulder – hard. "Will you just listen to me?" she snapped. "I told you to get out. You can't be here." She tried to punch him again, but Sora caught her wrist, trying to defend himself. He didn't realize how hard he was squeezing her arm.

"OW!" she gasped, her face contorting in pain. She tore her arm out of his grasp, clutching her wrist to her chest. The sleeve of her sweatshirt had fallen a few inches. Sora looked down at the newly exposed skin– a massive bruise was clearly defined there, something Kairi quickly tried to hide away again.

He looked back up at her face, but she avoided his eyes. He tried to keep a steady voice as he asked "Kairi, what happened?"

She shook her head, keeping her gaze level with his chest. "Nothing. Now will you get lost?" She muttered angrily. Sora shook his head at her. "No, Kairi. I have eyes. And I can clearly see that _something_ happened. I'm only trying to help you. So tell me-"

"I don't need your help! Nothing happened!" she said loudly. She was staring him straight in the eye, challenging him. He didn't rise to it. Instead, he used quieter tones, trying to get her to open up to him. "Kairi, I won't leave until you give me an explanation. Did your dad do this to you? Riku and I saw him here earlier, and he told us you weren't home."

She stiffened. "Are you deaf? I told you already, nothing happened! I'm fine." Her voice raised an octave, her eyes betraying her sudden fear. "My dad's here visiting, that's all."

Sora noticed that she was trembling slightly. He tried to reach out to comfort her, but she slapped his hands away, her eyes the size of dinner plates. "Don't touch me." Something in her tone made him back off immediately. He held up his hands and leaned back, giving her space. She seemed to breathe easier, but she was still plainly upset. "Go home, Sora." He shook his head at her. "I can't."

She bared her teeth at him. After she shoved him, she ground out "Why the hell not?"

"Because I'm here."

She stopped dead in her tracks, one hand hauled back to slap him. She stared at him uncomprehendingly. "What?"

His voice softened. "When I'm with you, I'm home. I can't go anywhere else to find that."

She lowered her hand, completely at a loss. She took a step back from him, shaking her head quickly from side to side. She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her hands over her ears. "No, no, no! You can't say that to me! You can't!"

He didn't know what to make of this. "Kairi, I'm sor-"

"Shut up!" She took another step back, keeping her hands over her ears and her eyes shut tight. "Don't you say you're sorry! Don't you _dare_." Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. "I don't deserve an apology. God, why did you have to say that?" she said brokenly. She lurched forward and weakly shoved him once more for good measure, then collapsed onto her bed. She curled up like a shrimp and started to cry.

Sora came over and sat next to her. "It's okay," He murmured, trying to comfort her. "Everything's going to be fine. Don't worry; you'll be okay." He tried to brush her hair out of her face, but she flinched away.

"But why?" she sobbed quietly. "Why are you even here? I'm nothing. I'm worthless. I'm so mean to you all the time."

He almost smiled. "Nah, you aren't mean to me _all_ the time. Just on a few occasions where I totally deserve it." Kairi choked out a laugh. Sora rested his elbows on his knees and said "And you most definitely are _not_ worthless. In fact, just about everyone you know would agree with me on that." He thought back to how Riku had threatened to strangle him if he told Kairi that Riku was worried about her. He decided that being strangled was worth it.

"Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Namine all missed you today. Riku did too, but he said he'd kill me if I told you that. So, let's keep that last one our little secret, okay?" He half smiled at her.

She scrunched herself up tighter. "How much does Riku know?" she asked. Sora shrugged. "I told him what you told me. That's all. He was the one who said that I should come check on you, after we ran into your dad today."

She cringed. Sora noticed and quietly asked "Kairi, was your dad the one who did this to you?"

She didn't respond. She began to cry again in earnest, making Sora feel sorry that he asked. He carefully tucked some hair behind her ear and sat there for a few minutes, running his fingers through her hair until she cried herself out.

After she'd been quiet for a few minutes, Sora said "I should probably go. You need to rest." As he was standing up, Kairi reached out and grabbed his hand. Sora looked down at her. Her eyes were wide and filled with fear. "Please, stay," she begged. "I don't want to be here by myself."

He hesitated a moment. "Please." She whispered. His resistance crumbled, and he sat back down. "Okay."

She moved over so he would have room, and he lay down next to her, leaving plenty of space between them. He didn't want to crowd her. After a short while, Kairi fell asleep, and Sora was quick to do the same.

**A/N:**

**Dear God, please don't kill me for taking so long. **

**Two family members died, so I haven't been writing much.**

**But here's the next chapter – hope you like it.**


	29. Chapter 29

When I woke up, Sora was gone. That suited me just fine, since I couldn't face him anyway.

I laid there on my side, just staring out the window. The leaves were turning orange and red on my tree, and they were starting to drop to the ground. I don't know why, but it made me sad. So many things were changing, and I had as little control over them as I did over the leaves turning color.

I wanted someone to talk to, but I couldn't call any of my friends without having to explain everything to them. Riku and Sora came to mind, but that was out of the question. All I wanted was some human company; a human being that I could just be around without having to worry about saying anything.

I sat on my bed for a full five minutes before it finally hit me. I pulled on jeans and a new shirt – which was surprisingly painful– and I put on my ratty old sweatshirt. Tiptoeing to my door, I listened for any movement in the house. Everything was utterly silent.

I opened my door and walked as quickly as I dared down the stairs. When I got to the bottom, I listened again, but there was still nothing. I rushed out the front door, grabbing my sneakers on the way. I managed to pull on my shoes and get my bike out of the garage at the same time, keeping a sharp eye out for my parents.

When I started to walk my bike down the driveway, I noticed the sleek black Lamborghini parked in the street. The Aston Martin was gone.

_So_, I thought to myself, _Dear old Dad isn't far away._ Suddenly, looking at the expensive sports car made me livid. I wanted to do something, but I couldn't seem to think of anything that would make me feel better.

Then I noticed the brake handles on my bike.

As I was passing the car, I dug the brake handle into the shiny black paint job, causing the metal to emit a terrible screeching sound. When I made it to the other end of the car, I turned around and repeated the action. After a few minutes, I surveyed my handiwork. Deep, jagged white lines now marred the perfect exterior. There were three of them, so that they would match my dad's face.

When that was done, I rode away.

It wasn't too bad outside. It was gray and cloudy, just enough to block out the sun, but not enough to cast dark shadows. The wind was a bit crisp, but it felt good against my skin. I took a deep breath and let my mind wander as the houses flew by on either side of the street. Soon the houses changed to small office buildings, and the small office buildings turned into large office buildings. Finally, the hospital came into view.

I rode up to one of the stone benches and chained my bike to it. Then I went inside.

The nurse at the front desk looked alarmed when she saw me, despite the fact that I'd hidden most of the damage with my hood. Despite a few dubious looks, she agreed to let me visit. I could see that she was still concerned about me as I walked away, but that wasn't my problem. She worked in a hospital; she should learn to toughen up.

A nurse named Sarah led me down a series of hallways that all smelled of antiseptic. She was explaining to me that they had moved the patient from intensive care a few days ago, and that she was doing very well, considering the circumstances. I nodded a lot, never bothering to say anything. Nurse Sarah seemed happy to talk, so I let her.

She stopped in front of a tall wooden door with a window in it. She told me to wait one moment while she checked if they were ready to see visitors. She went inside, and I leaned against the wall in the hallway, watching a group of people down the hall as they helped an elderly man walk into his room.

Nurse Sarah poked her head back out of the room and smiled at me. "She's ready to see you now." She chirped. I nodded and stepped inside, letting the door close behind me.

Fuu was sitting up in her bed, eating what I assumed to be her lunch. I glanced back at Nurse Sarah, who was absently chewing a fingernail. She caught my gaze and quickly said "Right, then. Give me a buzz if you need anything, girls." She then made a hasty retreat through the door, letting it slam behind her.

I sat down in a chair, trying to figure out what to say. Starting with "hello" would have been a good idea, but the thought didn't occur to me.

Fuu glanced up at me for the first time. It was uncanny how disconcerting those eyes were, like amber searchlights. To my surprise, she held up one of the rolls on her plate, offering it to me. I stared for a moment, then shook my head. "No thanks."

She put down the roll, but she kept staring at me. It was making me uncomfortable. "What?" I snapped, surprising myself.

She blinked, shrugged, and went back to eating. Mentally I kicked myself. I hadn't come here to be mean to her. I took a deep breath and said "I'm sorry, Fuu. I'm just a bit on edge today, if you couldn't tell already." I tried to sound lighthearted and joking, but I just sounded tired. She shrugged and finished her lunch, letting me know that it wasn't a big deal.

When she was done, she stacked the plates into a neat pile on the tray and clicked a button next to her bed. A few moments later, Nurse Sarah bounced in. "You guys need something?"

Fuu held up the tray. Nurse Sarah smiled. "All right. Let me just grab that for you," she said, picking up the tray. "Is there anything else? Water, pillows, the remote for the T.V? How about you, sweetie?" she asked, looking at me. I shook my head and smiled. "No, thanks. I think we're good." She nodded once and bustled out of the room, leaving us alone.

When I looked back at Fuu, she was staring calmly at me. "Face," she commented.

My fingers absently reached up and traced along my eye. "What, this?" She nodded. "How?" she asked curiously.

I thought fast. "When I was in my kitchen, my mom opened a cabinet door too fast and it hit me in the face. It was a pretty stupid accident." I really hadn't thought that one out very well, but I couldn't come up with anything better.

Her eyes narrowed slightly. She studied my face for a while, her face unreadable. She seemed to gradually come to a decision. "No," she said slowly, "not accident. Deliberate."

I shrugged. "Look, I told you what happened. It was an accident." I tried to feel worried or angry that she didn't believe me, but I could only come up blank. I realized that I just didn't care that much. I was too tired.

She thought for a minute. "Sweatshirt." She said decisively. She pointed at me. "Hiding."

I could only stare at the floor. What could I have said?

She leaned forward until she was in my line of vision. The amber searchlights got hold of me, freezing me in place. They were commanding, but also oddly comforting. "Sweatshirt." She repeated, more quietly this time, but just as firmly.

I nodded and pulled off my sweatshirt, being careful not to bump anything extra sore. I watched her eyes as they traveled along my arms. They stopped at one particular spot. "Shoes?" she asked warily. I shook my head. "No. Close, though. They were hiking boots. You know, like the kind you would wear to climb Mount Everest."

She pointed at another spot and asked "Rings?" I nodded. "Yeah, you got it." I murmured almost to myself. I sat back in the chair, wincing slightly as the plastic bit into my back.

She pressed her lips together and fell silent. Well, even more silent.

We both sat there for a while. Finally, she said "Was it Sora?"

At first I stared at her in surprise, because that was the first complete sentence I think I'd ever heard her use, then I shook my head no. "Sora would never hurt me." I replied. For some reason, I felt sure of this. I said it with about as much conviction as I could muster, which wasn't much, but it seemed to convince Fuu.

"Organization?" she tried again. I almost smiled. "No. I actually wish that was the case." I said bitterly. She didn't look like she understood that at all, so I just dropped it.

I let my gaze wander around the little room. There was a T.V, a bed, a cabinet, some medicine bottles, and a few magazines, but that was about it. I thought that if I had to stay in this place as long as Fuu, I would go stark-raving nuts.

"Do you ever get bored in here?" I wondered out loud. I think my question surprised her. "Bored?" she repeated slowly. I nodded. "Yeah. You know, do you ever get tired of being stuck in this room?"

She thought for a moment, then she shrugged. I thought that this was a weak answer, so I tried again. "All right. Has anyone come to visit you? What about Seifer, or Rai?"

I don't know what I said, but I sensed that a wall came up. "No." she said. "No one."

_That's weird_. I thought to myself. The whole thing was weird. Why didn't anyone come to check up on her? I realized that family was out of the picture, but her friends should at least make the effort to visit her once in a while. Come to think of it, no one had been to see her before I visited the first time. "Why haven't they? They shouldn't just ditch you like that." With each word I said, Fuu seemed to grow more agitated.

"Busy." She snapped at me. I tilted my head to one side and frowned. "Busy with what? They don't go to school. Do they work or something?"

"Just busy." She repeated sullenly, scowling at the blankets on the edge of the bed. I backed off, realizing that this conversation would not end happily if it continued.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to pry." I said resignedly. "Just thought I'd ask." I grabbed my sweatshirt off the floor and gingerly pulled it back on. I pondered whether I should stay and try to make more pleasant conversation or not, but the mere thought of it exhausted me. I looked around the room one more time and let my eyes settle on Fuu. She looked a little less angry now, but she seemed to be just as tired as I felt. Maybe leaving would be a good idea.

"Hey, I think I'm going to go now. I just wanted to come by and say hi. So, I guess I'll see you later, okay?" I crossed the room and stood in front of the door, turning back to smile half-heartedly at her. She nodded once at me, but that was all. I nodded back at her and left the room, trying not to let the door slam.

As I walked down the hall to the main entrance, I couldn't shake the look that Fuu had given me as I had closed the door. It had been so sad, so defeated. I didn't understand it. Maybe I'd hurt her unintentionally during our conversation.

I managed to clear my head when the cold air hit me outside. The temperature had dropped what felt like ten degrees since I'd been out last. I tugged my hood tighter around my face and pulled my sleeves lower to cover my hands. After a minute, I'd found my bike, unchained it, and was riding down the street when I decided not to go home yet. It wasn't like there was anything waiting for me, anyway.

I took the next left turn and ended up riding through a small residential neighborhood. The houses were small and close together, but they were neat and brightly painted. It was a part of town that I'd never seen before, and it reminded me slightly of the gingerbread cities that I had seen in bakery windows around Christmas time.

I continued through the quaint little neighborhood until the houses turned into little outlet stores, and I realized that I wasn't far from Namine's studio. I felt a small tug in my chest, because I really would have liked nothing better than to go there and hang out with Namine and her mom, but I couldn't go looking like this.

I rode down the street for a long while, probably around half an hour. My nose felt like a chunk of ice on the front of my face, and my hands were freezing. I wondered idly if I would be the first person ever to get frostbite in the fall.

I passed by a block filled with trees, hiding whatever was behind them from the street. When I rounded the corner, I realized that I knew the place. The Laundromat Seifer's family owned was the only building on this side of the street, looking exactly the way I remembered it. A sudden wave of nausea hit me, and I pedaled faster, desperate to get away from there.

I felt colder than I did before as I went on. After a while, the streets all started to look the same, and I stopped paying attention to where I was going. It really didn't matter where I was, as long as it wasn't anywhere near my dad.

For the first time all day, I wondered where my mom was. Maybe she was doing what I was doing; wandering aimlessly around town, figuring that anywhere that wasn't home was a good place to be.

I decided that I didn't hate her after all. She might be feeling the same way that I did, and that helped me to sympathize with her. I felt sorry for everything that had happened to her – and I couldn't help wondering if a lot of it was my fault. Maybe if I didn't fight with my father so much, he wouldn't be so angry all the time. Maybe he might not be so violent.

Voices broke into my thoughts. There was a lot of yelling going on, but I couldn't make out what was being said. I slowed down, curious about what was happening.

Suddenly three people emerged from behind a short brick building on the corner, a place called Carver's Hardware. An old but strong-looking man sounded like he was arguing with the younger men in front of him. I could see the unfortunate mullet haircut on the shorter one. Why would anyone ever feel the need to have that hairstyle?

I realized that I recognized him. He was Organization. And when the taller young man turned, the rows of silver in his ears caught what little light there was and glinted back at me. He'd been with Xigbar the day he'd barged into the Strife's art studio and got owned by Namine's mom.

I skidded to a stop and backed up, so I was out of sight around the corner of the building. My heart thudded in my chest, but I managed to stay quiet.

Even though I couldn't see them, I could still hear the fight. The younger men had wanted something from the old man, and he was way unhappy about it. He was refusing to give it to them, and he was telling them to "get off his property before he took one of the power saws to them." I was impressed with him in spite of myself. The guy, who had to be Carver, was about sixty-five, and he was still tough enough to threaten like that. That was a quality that could be respected.

I heard the guy with the earrings, I think his name was Luxord, speaking smoothly to Carver. He was insisting that it didn't have to be this way, and that the old man was just making it hard on himself. There was a subtle threat in his voice, barely hidden under the polite way he was speaking. I stopped breathing, hoping that the old man knew what he was getting himself into.

Carver seemed to have had enough. He cussed out the younger guys in a way that only the most drunken sailors could hope to achieve, and he went back inside his store, locking it from the inside.

Luxord stood stock still for a few seconds, then he turned to the mullet kid and said something about gas and matches.

Panic gripped me. I remembered how Sora told me about Axel being a pyro and briefly wondered if it was contagious. Toughness was one thing, but stubbornness to the point of stupidity was something else entirely. I liked the old man, even though I'd never met him; he was brave and could stand up for himself. I really didn't want anything to happen to him. They still hadn't noticed me, so I hastily turned my bike around and went back the way I had come, trying to ride around the block to find another entrance to the store.

It took about two minutes for me to find the other entrance. I dropped my bike to the ground and sprinted to the door, ignoring the pain in my legs. I tried to open it, but it was also locked from the inside. Panic hit me again, and I pounded my fist against the glass, hoping to get Carver's attention.

After about five seconds the door slammed open (narrowly avoiding smashing into me), and Carver appeared, brandishing a massive hammer. "I told you little punks to get the hell off my property!" he shouted, taking a swing at me. I ducked just in time for the huge hammer to shatter the thick glass door into a hundred pieces. He was strong for an old man.

He was about to take another swing at me, and I realized that I still had my hood up. I yanked it down and threw up my hands in front of me. "I'm not one of them!" I nearly shrieked. "I'm trying to help you!"

He stopped mid-swing and stared at me in confusion. "Who the hell are you?" he asked bluntly. I lowered my hands. "My name is Kairi Avery, Mr. Carver. And sir, I think those guys are going to try and do something –"

A resounding _crash_ echoed through the store, startling the both of us. He turned around angrily and took two steps back into the store when an explosion tore though the building that threw me off my feet. Carver toppled over in front of me, uttering anathemas that would have made me cringe in any other situation. But at present, I started to drag him out of the building, seeing that a huge fire was starting to spread. My feet hit concrete, and Carver was able to stand without help.

We retreated a short ways into the parking lot, staring at the store. Smoke began to billow out through an open window, and several more began to crack from the heat. I looked at Carver's face; an expression of shock was frozen on his features. He glanced at me and said "How did you –"

A second blast ripped through the air, powerful enough to throw us onto the ground again. The windows and doors all blew out, sending glass flying in all directions. Luckily, none came near us.

Carver coughed something out, but I couldn't understand him. I pushed myself off the ground, my body screaming in pain, and went over to help him. When he got his breath back, I helped him stand up and asked "What did you say?" I had to almost yell over the noise. He replied, but he was still too quiet. I shook my head, frowning. "What?" I yelled.

He roughly grabbed my arm and started to pull me away from the short brick building. "We need to clear out of here!" he cried. "The fire hasn't hit the gas tanks in the fuel storage area yet!"

The gravity of that statement hit me, and I immediately picked up the pace. We headed out into the middle of the street, which was oddly empty, considering the fact that a huge fire had broken out. My bike was where I'd left it, right on the curb, and I grabbed it as we ran. Behind us, about thirty yards away, the fire spread rapidly. Finally, as we watched from the other side of the street, the entire building went up in an enormous, ground-rattling explosion. Chunks of walls and individual bricks went flying, forcing us to duck behind a parked car.

Slowly, when I was sure that the worst of it was over, I raised myself into a standing position. Carver was calling the police and the fire department with his cell phone. I could hear the woman telling him that the cops would get there in five minutes.

I stared at what had been Carver's Hardware fifteen minutes ago. A burning mass of unrecognizable material was all that remained.

I glanced down at Carver, who looked devastated. He met my gaze and said "Thank you." I shrugged. "No problem. I'm sorry about your store."

He shrugged back at me. "Eh, I've been looking for an excuse to remodel it anyways." I felt the barest smile on my lips. "Well, it looks like you'll have a lot to remodel. Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what did those guys want from you? What would make them do this?"

He sighed and slumped against the car. "They've been haranguing me for weeks. I got my last warning today, I guess. They wanted me to give them tools to rebuild their garage or something. Apparently a tree had fallen on it and now they can't get to their cars." He shook his head. "Bunch of dumbass morons." He muttered under his breath.

"And _who_ are we calling a bunch a dumbass morons?" a voice asked casually. I whirled around to find Luxord grinning at me.

"Why's it concern you?" the old man growled. The kid with the mullet snickered behind Luxord. "It concerns us," he said between high-pitched giggles, "because it's _about_ us."

I backed up a step, almost stepping on Carver. Adrenaline pumped into my veins; my fight or flight response kicked in. I backed up again, careful not to nudge the old man. Unfortunately, Luxord noticed. "Where ya going, sweetheart? Don't you want to catch up with some friends first?" he asked, using that same politeness-to-cover-a-threat tactic.

I didn't respond. Mr. Carver looked up at me. "Do you know these boys?" he asked warily. Again, I couldn't come up with a response – my mind blanked.

"Of course she knows us, old man." Luxord smiled. "We've become close after these last few weeks – well, not as close as we'd like." I flinched.

"Son, I think you'd better leave." Carver said, getting to his feet. "It ain't polite to make a lady uncomfortable." Luxord rolled his eyes at the old man. "Why's it concern you?" he asked, parroting what Carver had said earlier. Carver shrugged. "It doesn't, really. I'm just pointing out that you should be more polite."

"Oh, okay, I see what you're saying." Luxord said thoughtfully. "You're saying I'm rude, right?"

Carver looked annoyed. "Yes, you unintelligent excuse for a human. That's what I'm saying." He folded his arms. Luxord's face turned a little red. "It isn't wise to pick a fight with me right now, old man." He said darkly. "You're supposed to be dead as it is." He looked at me. "I suppose that's your doing, then?"

I didn't say anything, but I lifted my chin defiantly and glared at them. "I'll take that as a yes," he decided. "Well, that's a problem. He wasn't supposed to be saved, you see. I have orders to take him out if he doesn't cooperate. So," he said casually, looking at Carver. "Are you going to cooperate now?" Behind him, mullet kid pulled out a small handgun.

My heart leaped into my throat. I quickly looked at Carver, willing him to say he would help. Instead, the unthinkable happened. The old man surged forward and knocked Luxord over, taking mullet kid down with them. "Run, kid!" he bellowed at me, trying to pin down the two guys at the same time.

I didn't need to be told twice. I took off at a sprint, got my bike, and started to hurry away. I heard a shot go off behind me. In utter horror, I glanced behind me, fearing that Carver was dead, but the old man had only been hit in the arm.

"Demyx, don't let her get away!" Luxord shouted to mullet kid. Demyx threw himself to his feet, looking for me. Completely terrified, I turned my attention forward, desperately trying to pedal faster. I had to get away.

Shots rang out. I instinctively ducked, but none of them were close enough to worry about. This Demyx kid wasn't a great gunman. Behind me, Luxord yelled "Gimme that!"

One shot, just one more shot, and the back wheel of my bike exploded. The bike skidded and veered violently to the right, and I kept going straight. I flipped over the handlebars, landing squarely on my back. All the breath rushed out of my lungs, and I laid there like a fish, gasping for air. After a few seconds, I slipped into blackness, not hearing or feeling anything around me.

**A/N: **

**DEAR LORD DON'T KILL ME FOR TAKING FOREVER! **

**I promise I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible.**

**Review, please.**


	30. Chapter 30

I adjusted the wrap on my right arm as I stared out the window. The leaves on my tree were starting to fall, and the empty branches looked very forlorn to me.

I got up and walked over to my dresser, where I picked up my hairbrush and stood in front of the mirror. I took small chunks of hair at a time, making sure that I started at the bottom and worked my way to the top. I was careful when I got near the fading bruise on my hairline. The huge scab was finally gone, so it wasn't too bad.

I had almost combed through all of my hair when I hit a snag. After a few minutes of struggling with the knot of hair, I gave up and put my brush back on the dresser. I went back to my seat by the window and resumed watching the world outside.

I had woken up almost two weeks ago in the hospital, connected to a bunch of IV's and bandaged up. A nurse filled me in on what I had missed during the four hours I'd been unconscious. The police had found me where I had fallen on the street, and they had seen the two guys from the Organization running away from all the cops that responded to Carver's 911 call. They chased them for a while, but they ended up disappearing.

I was a little disappointed when I heard that. I'd been hoping that the police would have killed them by accident, but they apparently never had a clear enough shot at them. Unfortunately, they never got a clear look at their faces, either. Sure, the police had asked me questions about them, but I had miraculously forgotten everything I knew about the attackers. I'd been traumatized, after all. And besides, I hadn't seen them up close enough to make out any defining details.

I wasn't really traumatized, but they didn't know that. But I was scared. If I'd given the Organization to the cops, clean or otherwise, there would be an even bigger target painted on the back of my head. They already despised me – why give them another reason to?

When they were done questioning me about the arsonists, they asked me for my story – why I was there, what I was doing, and things like that. I told them I'd just been out for a bike ride, and I'd seen the store catch fire. I'd helped the owner out of the burning building, and then shots started going off, so I panicked and ran. They hit the back tire of my bicycle, and that was the last thing I remembered.

Before the policeman who'd been interviewing me left, I asked him about Carver. The man told me that he'd been found near where I'd fallen. He'd been shot through the head.

I didn't cry. I didn't feel anything. There was a comfortable numbness that had blanketed my senses. I had convinced myself that maybe all of this wasn't so bad, just in time for my father to show up. He was there to bring me home after my two-day stay in the hospital.

I refused to say anything to him. I wouldn't speak at all if he was even in the room. He thought I had suffered brain damage during the explosion. Like living with him wouldn't have done that already.

I'd gotten at least two hundred messages from Olette, Pence, Hayner, and Namine. I ignored all of them. The logical part of my brain told me that they were worried, but I couldn't seem to muster up enough emotion to care. I couldn't muster up much of _anything_.

Of all the texts and phone calls I got, I only looked at one. Riku had sent me a message, and he had apologized for everything that had happened. It actually made me cry a bit. I didn't respond, though. What would I have said? Oh, it's all right, don't worry about it?

No, I couldn't have said that. Why bother to lie when the truth is so obvious?

For whatever reason, Sora never tried to contact me. Even though I was home for a solid week and a half, he never came over, never called, nothing. It made me feel like I'd somehow done something wrong. Isn't that absurd?

The other person who had been missing was my mother. I never got any calls from her, either. I began to think that as long as my father was around, she wouldn't come within a mile of our house. Her absence hurt me more than I thought it would. I had been blown up, shot at, and hospitalized, and she was acting like she didn't care. After all the crap we had gone through together, I had thought that she would understand my need for her comforting presence. I guess I was wrong.

I spent a lot of time in my room during the week and a half I stayed home. I don't think I ever actually left my room except to go to the bathroom, which was right down the hall. Eating became less and less important, so I stopped altogether on my fourth day back. I hadn't even thought of bathing since I got home – the bandages made it impossible anyway.

I stared blankly out the window for a few more minutes before my phone buzzed. I picked it up disinterestedly, morbid curiosity the only thing compelling me to even acknowledge that it was ringing. It was another message from Namine.

I don't know why, but I decided to see what she had to say. She wanted to know if she could come over for a while. Almost magically, as if some unseen being had taken control of my fingers, I typed back a reply, telling her that she could come by, but I wouldn't be much company. I also said to ignore my crazy uncle who was staying at the house.

She responded almost instantaneously, telling me that she would be right over. She was probably afraid that I would change my mind or something.

I sat around my room for fifteen minutes, not really doing anything in particular. I just didn't have the energy to. But after a while, the doorbell rang, and I walked down to answer it. My dad wasn't home, or I would have had to rush to get it.

I opened the door to find a somewhat breathless looking Namine on the front steps, about to ring the doorbell again. She blinked at me in surprise, then offered a tiny smile. "Hey, Kairi." she said tentatively.

"Hey." I said tonelessly.

There was an awkward silence for a moment. "You look much better than I thought you would," she said half-jokingly. I considered my appearance, having not showered for a week and a half, and having not eaten for a week. I knew she was lying, but she was far too kind to say anything to the contrary. It made me feel a bit better.

We stood there staring at nothing in particular for a while. Namine finally cleared her throat and asked if she could come in. Without a word, I stepped aside and let her pass. She wandered down the hall a ways and stopped, waiting for me to direct her where to go. I closed the door behind me and contemplated locking it, but decided not to.

"We can sit in the kitchen," I offered. She nodded quickly, looking a little relieved. I walked in front of her and led the way down the hall, past the bit of mangled wall that gave testimony to my parents' fight.

"What happened there?" she asked curiously. I shrugged and kept walking. "We were lifting some heavy stuff in boxes. They toppled over."

"Oh." She said dubiously. She let the matter drop, though. We silently entered my kitchen, which had slowly defected from the tidy, welcoming atmosphere my mother had tried so hard to maintain. I hadn't known that things had gotten so bad. I shoved some old newspapers and magazines that were scattered on the floor with my foot, revealing the wooden floorboards beneath. I pushed them some more, then decided to just pick them up. I should have felt embarrassed about the amount of garbage lying around, but I didn't.

"Do you want some help with those?" Namine asked. She didn't wait for me to answer, but instead started grabbing stuff off the floor. She neatly folded the newspapers up and stacked them one on top of the other, and picked up several half-drunk bottles of wine.

We quietly moved about the kitchen, straightening things up and cleaning out the garbage. I went to the side of the kitchen and stooped to pick up an empty pizza box. Next to that, the sports section was spread out over the floorboards. I tried to snatch it up, but it was oddly stuck to the ground.

I grabbed the edge of the paper with my fingers and slowly peeled it back. Underneath it, dark brownish-red, dried-up gunk clung to the floor and glued the paper down.

The hair on the back of my neck prickled and my forehead throbbed painfully at the memory. I let the corner fall back to the ground and left it there.

Namine seemed to have finished her side of the room when I turned around. I joined her at the table, where she was throwing the last brown bottle into a garbage bag. "Thank you." I said sincerely. "You didn't have to help out."

She waved me off and smiled. "It's no problem." I tried to smile at her, but the expression felt too foreign, so I stopped trying. She seemed to notice me struggling, and she discreetly looked away. She pursed her lips slightly as she noticed something. "It looks like we missed one." She said this as she started towards the paper I'd left on the ground to cover up the stain.

"Wait," I said quickly. There was a hint of desperation in my voice. She turned around, concerned at the sudden change in my tone. "What? Something wrong?"

My mind raced, trying to think of an excuse. "Um . . ."

She looked at me blankly, waiting for an answer.

"Um . . . when we moved all those boxes, we spilled some paint on the floor. It's gluing the paper down." I said calmly, shrugging like it didn't matter.

"Oh." She tilted her head to the side and took a seat at the newly cleared table. Breathing an internal sigh of relief, I sat down across from her. She studied me for a minute while I studied the surface of the table like I'd never seen it before.

"You look like you've lost some weight," she said after a while. "Not that you needed to – you were already pretty thin. Are you on a diet or something?" I chewed the inside of my cheek, wondering how to respond. "I guess you could say that." I replied blandly.

She noted the self-mocking note in my voice. "You are _eating_, right?" she asked carefully. I stared fixedly at the table, and then nodded, not trusting a vocal answer.

"Are you on that weird crash-diet thing Olette tried to do last week?" She spoke quickly, and I could tell that she was nervous; probably worried that she had offended me or something. "It didn't work for her, but they usually don't. I don't get her obsession with numbers on a scale. She plays sports; and muscle weighs more than fat." She shook her head. "So, was that it?" Her huge blue eyes fixed me with that innocent, questioning look.

I shook my head. "No, that's not it. I just haven't been eating much lately." I was getting uneasy talking about myself, so I looked at her with a critical eye and asked "So, what about you? You seem different, too. What have I been missing?"

Namine decided to humor me. She spent the next few minutes informing me about Hayner and Olette's first couple fight (which had only lasted a day) and all the drama that had accompanied it. She also told me that Pence had started work at his family's restaurant, and he was offering to give all of us his employee discount on the food.

"That's cool," I conceded, "but you haven't told me anything that's been up with you."

She shifted in her chair. "Nothing's been going on with me." She said distantly. "Why?"

I almost smiled. Almost. "'Cause you're my friend, and friends care, right? It's my job to be interested or concerned or whatever."

She considered this in silence. "I could say the same about you." She countered absently. "We're all worried about you. Me, Pence, Hayner, Olette, Riku -"

I was suddenly very alert. "Riku?" I asked in confusion. "When did you talk to Riku?"

She took up a keen interest in something on the wall behind me. She looked slightly uneasy, like she was unhappy about something. I waited patiently for her to answer my question, curiosity gnawing at the edges of the numbness that kept threatening to return. She glanced once at me, and then looked away. "He called a few times to see how you were doing. He said that Sora was worried too, but he couldn't call you."

My heart beat a little faster. "Why couldn't he call me?" I asked. She shook her head. "I don't know." She said apologetically. "He usually hung up the phone after I told him that I hadn't talked to you yet."

She looked at me with a sudden interest. "Hey, why did you decide to answer today? You haven't talked to anybody for almost two weeks." She looked a bit sad. "It scared me after a while when you kept letting messages go to voicemail."

I felt the comforting numbness creeping back into my brain. Fuzzily, I asked "Why did it scare you? I thought you of all people would be the one who would get what's going on." Even as I was saying it, I felt a sickening guilt threaten to break through the safe fog my mind had let back up.

She looked down at the table, her face betraying how worried she was. "I _did_ understand. That's why I was scared." She said gently. "I did similar stuff last year. I knew almost exactly what was happening with you." She let out a small, weak laugh that fluttered out into the silence and disappeared. "Maybe a little too well, I guess. Everything seemed gray, like nothing mattered. I didn't answer my phone, I wouldn't leave my house, and I tried to starve myself. Life just didn't seem so appealing, you know?"

She continued with her soft, quiet voice, not trying to diminish what I'd been going through, but trying to connect with it and tell me it was okay. I felt a lump form in my throat as she continued. "I was worried that you would feel the same way I did. The things that have happened to you are worse than what I'd gone though -"

Without warning, a sob burst out of me, echoing unnaturally loudly through the room. Namine started slightly, surprised by my reaction. I blinked at her while I tried my best not to have a full-blown meltdown. "P-please, stop," I begged, my voice thick and cracked sounding. "Stop trying to make me feel better. I don't deserve it."

She pressed her lips together as I started to cry, my words bubbling and gurgling into incoherence. She got up and came around to my side of the table, putting one arm around me and pulling me in for a hug.

"Shh. It's okay." She said softly. I shook my head against her shoulder. "No it's not," I choked out. With a tremendous effort of will, I pulled myself together and clamped my mouth shut. The tears slowed and stopped, and the lump in my throat diminished gradually.

Gently, I disentangled myself from Namine's slender arms and put my hands on her shoulders.. I looked her full in the face and said "It's not all right, Namine. There isn't a chance in hell that anything that happened to me comes even remotely close to what you've gone through. _Nothing_, okay? Don't give me the excuses that you had, because you had good reason to have them. I don't deserve to be comforted in the same ways that you did, because you needed it. Okay? You're a freaking perfect angel person. Comparing anything about me to anything about you is ridiculous. "

She blinked at me in astonishment. I'd sort of ended up screaming at her at the end of my little rant. I felt the stain of embarrassment and shame coloring my cheeks, and guilt gnawed at my stomach. Then, all of a sudden, a realization hit me. I had been acting like a dead person for the past week and a half, and there was no reason for it. I had been attacked, no question about it. But I had been a little beaten up and shot at, not raped by a bunch of vicious thugs.

I let my hands drop into my lap and sat back.

I began to realize how pathetic I really was. What if Namine and I had traded places? There would be no way that I could possibly deal with that kind of emotional trauma. Yet she was telling me that I had reacted to this trifling thing the same way that she had reacted to all that?

My dad had been right. I was all talk, with nothing to back it up. _You're more pathetic than she is. You're just a big coward, with a big mouth._

This was so stupid. I made up my mind right then and there – there would be no more of this self-pitying crap. I wouldn't drag everyone down with me; I was fine. Even if I wasn't, I would make damn sure that no one else knew it. It was time to snap out of it and come back to reality, where things like this really didn't matter. I shoved my chair back and stood up.

"I've been in here for too long. Let's go somewhere."

Namine looked extremely confused, and more than a little concerned. "Kairi, are you all right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I think I am, actually. I'm really sorry I yelled at you—there was no reason for it."

"No, don't worry about it. But are you sure you're ready to leave? If you have to take it slowly, you can."

I forced myself to grin. The effect was probably frightening, but at least it was a smile. "I've been in here almost two weeks. I don't even know what day it is. I think it's time for me to come back to life, you know? I should get back out into the wide world."

Namine still looked as confused as ever, but she let it go for now. She smiled tentatively. "Well, that's good. You had me worried there for a while. So, do you want to go see if the guys want to say hi? Olette's been dying to talk to you again."

I cocked my head to one side, considering. "Okay, but only if I get to shower first."

**A/N:**

**I rewrote this chapter five times and hated each one of them.**

**So, that explains my absence. **** I'm really sorry it took so long, but this is the only version I didn't totally**

**despise, although I think it still needs a lot of work. Review if you aren't completely disgusted by it! **


	31. Chapter 31

I took my shower, taking extra care with the bandages, and got dressed. Yeah, it still hurt like hell, but I was getting through it.

When I came downstairs, Namine was still sitting at the kitchen table, texting someone. I came up next to her and read over her shoulder. She was talking to Hayner, trying to come up with a place to meet. After she finished her text suggesting that we meet at the art studio, she snapped her phone shut and looked at me, smiling happily.

"Everyone's so excited that you're doing better," she informed me. "I thought Olette was going to explode. She might actually tackle you on sight. Hayner and Pence are happy too, but you probably don't need to worry about overenthusiastic physical contact."

I absently rubbed my shoulder, wincing at the thought of being touched, much less tackled. "Yeah, let's try to avoid that if possible." I said with a rueful little smile. I had practiced smiling in the mirror upstairs, and I had transformed the expression from a hideous grimace to something resembling a human grin.

She chuckled to herself and stood up. "Sounds like a plan. But do you need to tell anybody you're leaving before we go?"

I shrugged. "No, not really."

"Won't your mom be worried if she comes back and you're not here?"

My heart gave a little lurch. I'd forgotten that my friends were so out of the loop. But I suppose that's my fault. "No, she'll be fine. She doesn't really care."

Namine shrugged and said "Okay." But I saw her frowning in concern as she walked past me towards the hallway.

I stuck my hands in my sweatshirt pocket and followed her. "So, where are we off to? Art studio?" Talking was still weird, no matter how normal my words sounded. I made a mental note to think carefully about what to say before I say anything to my friends.

We reached the end of the hallway, and I pulled the door open. I waited for Namine to exit, then I closed and locked the door behind us.

We started down the steps, and Namine nodded in response to my question. "Yeah, we're meeting everyone there in ten minutes. Is that okay? We can meet a bit later if you're not up to it." She glanced carefully at me, searching for any sign of weakness. I knew that the moment I did show any weakness, she would bring me straight home. I was almost annoyed that she was so caring and watchful.

I smiled and looked her in the eye. "Namine, I'm _fine_. I need to get out of my house for a while. This is the best thing for me right now. Okay?"

She blushed a bit and quickly cast her eyes down, embarrassed. "All right. Sorry, I'm just a bit paranoid." She laughed nervously, still flushed and staring down. I smiled and shook my head, nudging her with my shoulder as we walked.

"It's okay to be worried, but I'm not made of glass. I won't shatter so easily." I saw a rock in front of me and I kicked it, sending it skittering down the sidewalk ahead. Namine looked amused.

"Well, I know you're not glass. You're something much stronger. Maybe granite? I don't know." She took a step in front of me and kicked the rock another ten feet down the sidewalk.

"Hmm. No, I'd say that if anybody we knew was made of granite, it'd be Hayner." I said thoughtfully. "And Olette would be marble. Like, the really, really highly polished kind in rich people's homes." I kicked the rock down the sidewalk, shoving my foot in front of Namine's to get it first.

She laughed a silvery little laugh. "Then what would Pence be? Travertine?"

That one threw me. "What on earth is travertine?"

"It's a soft, porous rock that sort of looks like marble."

I laughed. "Why do you even know that?"

She grinned "We just had a new floor put into our kitchen, and the rock they used is called travertine." She paused to kick the rock another few feet. "So, what would I be, then? Probably the glass one, right?" she asked sheepishly.

I thought for a minute. "No, definitely not glass." I pondered what to say, then it hit me. "Diamond. You'd absolutely be diamond." I kicked the rock again, but instead of tumbling down the sidewalk it flew into the street. I glared after it, annoyed that it hadn't gone where I'd wanted it to.

She stared after the rock. "Nice one." She congratulated me with a completely straight face. I stuck my tongue out at her and kept walking, trying not to laugh. She jogged a few steps to catch up to me, a small smile lurking at the corners of her lips. "Well, if I'm diamond, then you have to be diamond too. Sound fair?"

I pretended to consider. "Well, I suppose I could settle for that. Deal, then. We're both made out of diamond."

By then the art studio had come into view, and I saw Pence waiting outside. Namine and I walked for another minute before he saw us, and when he did, his whole face lit up. "Hey, guys! Kairi, where've you been hiding? Everybody's been missing you."

He came forward to greet us, and he tried to give me a hug, but his arm hit a particularly sore spot and I involuntarily flinched. He pulled back immediately. "Whoa, sorry." He said quickly, his face chagrined. "I forgot. No contact yet."

I smiled gently at him, rubbing my arm. "It's okay. I can hug _you_, but you just have to be careful." I wrapped my arms around the guy, surprised at how much I'd missed his sweetness and self-effacing nature.

I pulled back and let Namine hug Pence. "Where's everyone else?" She asked curiously.

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, you know them. They're almost always late. They'll be here soon." He glanced over at me. "So, has Namine filled you in on everything you've missed?"

I shrugged. "For the most part. I think I got everything."

He grinned. "Okay, cool. Oh, and Hayner told me that your teachers aren't going to force you to make up the homework you missed."

My face lit up. "Really? That is so amazing. I would have been buried if I had to make all that up." Pence nodded in agreement, and Namine smiled.

Suddenly I saw Hayner and Olette walking towards us from the street. I didn't have to be anywhere near them to be able to see the radiant smile on Olette's face. She ran up to us and gave me a big hug. I felt like someone was stabbing me with a knife in my shoulder, but I didn't want to burst her bubble. Namine and Pence were the ones who told her to ease up, and I was overwhelmingly grateful for that.

When I could see her face properly, I was amazed to see that she was smiling and had tears in her eyes. "We were so worried about you!" she exclaimed. "Don't you ever disappear on us like that again!" And, ignoring the protests from Pence and Namine, she enveloped me in another hug, which hurt only slightly less than the first one had.

Hayner had joined us at that point, and his expression was apologetic. "Sorry, Kairi. She's been ecstatic ever since Namine sent her that text."

I smiled and briefly embraced him. "It's all good. No harm, no foul." I looked around at the four of them and felt like a complete bitch for having ignored them for so long. I'd forgotten how much I actually loved hanging out with them and missed their company.

The five of us went out to get an early dinner – Olette had told me that it was now Wednesday evening – at McDonalds, of all places. Hayner treated everyone to greasy burgers, crispy chicken tenders, delicious fries, and a salad for Olette, who was vegetarian. We decided to bring the food outside, since it was one of the last warm days of the year, and we sat at a table closer to the street to avoid the noisy customers entering and leaving the building.

The nice thing was that we could talk about absolutely nothing important and still have fun. Hayner stuck two fries in his mouth and impersonated a walrus, clapping his hands together awkwardly and telling Olette to kiss him. Instead of complying, she shoved a forkful of salad into his mouth, making him gag.

We all laughed. I felt better than I had in a long time. There were moments during our conversations when I could actually forget about everything that had happened, and not just recently, but all the way back to when I first moved here. I even forgot about Sora and Riku for a while.

After about two hours of pigging out and joking around, the food finally ran out. I felt sick to my stomach, and I remembered what they taught us in health class about not eating a ton of food after eating nothing for long periods of time. _Screw it, _I thought happily, _At least I'm here with the greatest people ever._

The talking continued merrily on, and I was happy to just listen. They seemed to get that I was pretty worn out from so much activity in one day, so they graciously let me sit on the sideline of the conversation. I was listening to Pence tell the punch line of an old joke when I heard an incredulous voice behind me.

"Kairi?"

I turned in my chair to see Riku standing there, looking more haggard than I remembered. His hair was rumpled, his shirt had stains on it, and he looked like he hadn't slept in days. But the thing that drew my attention most was the look of amazement on his face.

I blinked, wondering if I was hallucinating. No, he was still standing there. With a small smile creeping onto my face, I stood up and said "Hey, Riku."

He blinked like he thought _I_ was some sort of hallucination and, realizing that I wasn't, he closed the gap between us in three long strides and wrapped me in a bone-splintering embrace. If I had thought that Olette's hug was painful, then this was excruciating. I gave a short cry before I clamped my lips shut, without really knowing why.

I heard Hayner and Pence jump up behind me, but Riku had already let go, his expression mortified. "Shit, sorry," he said quickly. "Are you all right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm all right. I'm fine. What are you doing here? How've you been?"

He half smiled. "A guy's gotta eat, doesn't he? We're out of edible food . . . back home," he said with a cautious glance at my friends. "So I came to grab a burger and go."

I pushed some hair out of my eyes. "So how've you been? Like, what's been up with you lately?"

He shrugged. "Not much. I got another job, but this time it's at a garage a few miles from here. Other than that, just school and stuff." The "stuff" he was referring to wouldn't be meant for Namine's ears, so I nodded to show my appreciation for his discretion. He grinned and said "So what about you? Anything new?"

I shoved thoughts of all events preceding this afternoon into a back corner of my mind and locked them there. I shrugged. "Not really."

He tilted his head to the side. "But you're out of your house. You've rejoined society. That's pretty important." I noticed for the first time that he had a dimple in his cheek when he really smiled.

I glanced over my shoulder at Namine. "Well that's mostly her fault," I said half jokingly. "She motivated me to get off my butt and do something."

Riku looked at her and grinned. "You did it, Namine. Nice work."

Her cheeks blushed a rosy pink and she nodded. "Thanks." She said quietly.

Riku looked back at me and laughed. "Well, it's a good thing you decided to come back to the world. Sora and I were beginning to think you were never going to come out."

I smiled at him and asked "So where is Sora, anyway? I haven't heard from him in a long time."

Riku's face took on that reserved quality he used when dealing with strangers. He shrugged and said "He's back home, probably sleeping."

I couldn't keep the note of disappointment out of my voice. "Oh. Well, I think I'm going to go back to school tomorrow. Will I see you guys there?" I searched his face for something, anything, that looked like an emotion, but he'd locked himself up again. I might as well have been looking at a brick wall.

He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. Maybe." Well, it was better than "no."

Riku glanced down at his watch – which looked relatively new and expensive – and said "Hey, I gotta go. I'm really sorry, but I have to bring back dinner for everybody."

I nodded. "Okay. Well, do you want to sit down first? We won't bite, I promise."

He stopped for a second, and I could see that half of him wanted to stay. But, shaking his head, the other half of him, the one chained to the Organization, won out. "I can't," he said regretfully. "I have to go. Sorry, guys."

My friends all nodded in acknowledgment. I pressed my lips together. "You sure you don't want to stay?"

He still looked torn, but he shook his head again. "Yeah, I'm sure." He held up his fist, and I tapped it with my own. He started walking away, and a thought occurred to me.

Before he could walk into the McDonalds, I called out "Hey, if we all hang out this weekend, do you wanna come?" I glanced back at my friends just to make sure it was okay with them. Hayner and Namine shrugged, and Olette and Pence tilted their heads a bit, signing that they didn't care one way or the other.

I looked back at Riku, awaiting his response. He had one hand on the door, half in and half out. Then, with one tiny breach in the blank wall, a smile slipped out, along with the words "Sure. See you then."

And then he went inside. And I was happy.

Riku drove the Deathtrap home in silence. He hadn't stolen a car radio for it yet, so he didn't have much choice. But it was still strange to have the whole car completely silent. Sora could usually fill the silence with crappy jokes or occasional talk. Riku wasn't used to the silence.

It took him longer than usual to drive home. He took the long way around, using the route he had taken home from school for the past week and a half. He passed Kairi's house, noticing yet again that no cars were in the driveway. And even on the days when there was a car, it was just the Lamborghini. The Aston Martin never made a reappearance.

There was the one split second where he could see a section of wall through the window to Kairi's room. Every day until now, the light had been on in that room. Now it was turned off. He'd never thought that a light switched off could make him so happy.

The sun was setting when he pulled up to the hangout. He glanced at his new watch, which was a present from Larxene of all people. It was almost seven thirty – he had half an hour until everyone expected dinner to be served up.

He threw the Deathtrap into park and got out of the tiny vehicle, which was becoming less and less decrepit under his care. He grabbed the bags of McDonalds from the passenger side and shut the door. He crossed the front lawn and walked up to the door, using his foot to nudge it open and let himself in.

The door closed behind him, and in the dying light from the windows, he observed Sora's prone form on the sofa, a half-empty beer bottle in hand. Five or six empty bottles were on the floor beside him.

Riku silently moved through the room and placed the food on the table by the hallway. On his way back to close the front door, Sora stirred in his sleep. Riku stopped and looked at him, his expression unchanging. With a muffled sigh, Sora opened his eyes and blinked a few times. Squinting, he blearily tried to focus on Riku.

"Whozzat?" he asked, his speech slurred by drink.

"It's me." Riku replied calmly, closing the front door as quietly as possible. Sora blinked a few more times and seemed to understand. He smiled at his friend.

"Hey, buddy. Where ya been? Ya wanna beer?" He held up the half-drunk bottle in his hand as an offering. Riku held up a hand and shook his head. Sora shrugged and took a big gulp of the golden brown liquid. He grinned to himself. "More fer me."

Riku, his face a mask of calm, took a seat by his heavily inebriated friend. "I went to get McDonalds for everybody," he said matter-of-factly. "That's where I've been."

Sora took another swallow. "Oh." He said disinterestedly.

Riku nodded absently, staring off into space. "I saw Kairi there. She was with her friends."

That sparked Sora's interest. "You saw Kairi? I love Kairi!" He laughed. Then he frowned. "But she's at home, not at McDonalds." The situation seemed to perplex him greatly. It would have made Riku laugh if it wasn't so sad.

"She's finally left her house. She's getting better." He said this slowly, patiently. The light of understanding finally dawned in Sora's eyes. Riku continued to stare thoughtfully into space. "Kairi asked about you, you know. She wanted to know where you were."

Sora rubbed a hand over his eyes. "Why'd she wanna know _that_?"

"'Cause she misses you." Riku said tersely, the first trace of bitterness entering his voice. "'Cause she loves you."

"Really?" Sora asked curiously. "What'd ya tell her?"

"I told her you were at home, probably sleeping." _I didn't tell her you were sleeping it off, though. _He thought to himself.

Sora tried to prop himself up on his elbows without much success. "Well, tha's okay, then." He conceded. "What else didja say?"

Riku spoke and his voice was once again calm and controlled. "I said I had to go," he said distantly. "She wanted me to stay, but I left anyway."

Sora snorted. "I would'a stayed." He said disdainfully. "Why wouldja leave? I'd wanna spend time with her."

A faint smile touched Riku's face. "I do want to spend time with her. That's why when she invited me to hang out this weekend, I said I would."

Sora frowned slightly. "She wants to hang out with you? Thought she loved _me_." He said dubiously.

Riku glanced at Sora's hazy-eyed expression. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. Besides, you probably won't remember most of this conversation tomorrow morning." He considered something for a moment. "Why don't you go back to sleep? You'll be able to think more clearly when you wake up."

Sora, frowning slightly, shrugged and mumbled "Whatever." With that, he rolled onto his side, and within two minutes, he was snoring. Riku shook his head and stood up. Glancing down once at his friend, he muttered "You're killing yourself, man."

He walked into the kitchen and, seeing yet another empty bottle, went to the fridge and took out every ounce of alcohol he could put his hands on. He carried the heap of glass and aluminum to the bathroom and methodically opened every bottle and can and watched grimly as the poison flowed golden brown, clear, and deep red down the drain.

**A/N:**

**What did you think? Let me know. **


	32. Chapter 32

An hour or so after Riku had come home, the rest of the gang started showing up. Xigbar and Luxord had been out terrifying the local shop owners, and they began regaling Riku with stories of anguished pleas and fearful begging as they chowed down on the McDonald's burgers.

". . . you should've seen it. I thought the guy was gonna piss himself." Xigbar grinned wickedly. Luxord laughed uproariously, much to Riku's disgust. "It was absolutely hysterical. And then his wife started crying and shit, like 'No, don't, please!' Really, you should've been there. It was great."

Riku shook his head. "No, I'm good staying here. I mean, threatening to butcher their kids? That's messed up. You seriously need help."

Luxord started laughing again. Riku thought he sounded like a demented hyena. Xigbar glared fiercely at him and said "Shut up, moron. You're such a retard."

Riku bit his tongue so he wouldn't say anything. There had been a kid in his old neighborhood with Down Syndrome, and Riku had sort of looked after the little guy. He hated it when people used that word – retard.

Luxord had stopped laughing like an idiot, but he was still grinning broadly. Xigbar shook his head in disgust and turned his attention back to Riku. "Yeah, I do need help. 'Cause I'm screwed up in the head." He grinned, pointing to his right temple. "It's what makes me so charming."

Riku raised an eyebrow. "Really." Was all he had to say to that. Xigbar nodded, his oddly pointed teeth seeming to gleam as he smiled. "Oh, yeah, I'm a very charming guy. Very memorable."

Luxord snorted. "Memorable, maybe. But that's because you scare everybody with your ugly mug." He raised his arms to block Xigbar's fist before it could crash into his head. He tried to hit him back, but Xigbar got him in a headlock and started strangling him. Luxord's face went beet red and he held up his hands in surrender.

Xigbar shoved him away and chuckled. "Nah, the eye patch and scars get the ladies going. Ask that little bitch I fought a while ago. She digs me."

Riku almost gagged on his own tongue.

"Or ask Larxene. That psycho is _so_ into me." He laughed. Riku idly wondered if he'd finally gone completely delusional. Suddenly they all heard the door in the next room open. Larxene could be heard complaining bitterly to someone, but Riku noted that the footsteps were too light to be Axel in his combat boots. A moment later, Larxene and Demyx stepped into the kitchen.

Luxord grinned and muttered "Speak of the devil and she shall appear."

Larxene glared at him. "What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Hey, guys." Demyx piped up in his nervous voice. "Where's the grub?" Riku picked up a bag and tossed it to him. Demyx opened it up and rifled through its contents. He looked plaintively at Riku. "I asked for extra cheese on mine."

Riku rolled his eyes. "Guess I forgot." He said drily.

Demyx frowned at him but let it drop. Confrontation definitely wasn't his style, and he didn't want to bite the hand that fed him. Literally.

Larxene looked around. "Where is everyone else?" she asked. "Zexion and Lexaeus should have been back two hours ago. And where's little Sora, huh? Still sleeping?" Her glance at Riku was very direct.

His eyes hardened. "Back off, Larxene."

She pouted at him. "What? I'm only asking 'cause I'm concerned. So how is he?"

"Just leave it alone. I had him crash in my room. His snoring could wake the dead."

"Okay, fine, then." She turned her attention to the bag in Demyx's hands. "Are there fries in there?" she asked suddenly. "Those smell friggin' awesome." She tore the bag out of his hand and looked inside.

Riku had noticed that her cravings were becoming centered on foods that she would normally avoid – basically anything that could make her fat. He would never dare point this out to her, though. But Xigbar would.

"Jesus Christ, Larx. You're getting fatter every day." He said glibly.

Her head snapped up and she glared at him. Luxord, Demyx, and Riku prudently kept their eyes fixed on the table – returning that look could prove fatal. However, Riku had noticed that Xigbar never seemed to be too concerned with how dangerously stupid he could be. He not only returned her ferocious stare, he had the audacity to smile at her.

First, Larxene threw the McDonald's bag at his head, scattering its contents all over the kitchen and its occupants. Then, she proceeded to cuss him out in what Riku could safely call the most colorful and creative rant he had ever heard.

Xigbar's expression was livid, and he jumped out of his chair to begin his verbal assault. Though he had a smaller vocabulary than Larxene, Xigbar's insults were just as vicious. The noise level in the small kitchen rose to a point where Riku was sure that the windows throughout the house would shatter.

Finally, Xigbar seemed to lose his grip. Larxene was visibly wearing him down, and they both knew it. Almost in furious desperation, Xigbar snarled and said "Shut your face, you stupid bitch, or I swear I'm gonna exterminate your little bastard the second it's born."

If Riku had blinked, he was sure he would have missed it. In the space of one heartbeat, Larxene's face went completely blank. The next heartbeat, she had coolly pulled a gun on Xigbar and shot him.

Xigbar cried out and dropped to the ground, clutching his shoulder. Blood seeped between his fingers, showing up only as a darker shade of black on his dark t-shirt. Frozen, Riku and the others stared at him in shock until he glared up at Larxene, his face hideously twisted with the pain, not even human anymore.

"You _BITCH_!" He screamed at her. He tried to get up, possibly to murder Larxene, but he fell helplessly back to the floor.

Larxene didn't even blink. She regarded him without any interest whatsoever.

"You're lucky I didn't kill you," she said emotionlessly. "It would have been too easy."

She turned and started walking away, ignoring Xigbar's weak swearing. Halfway to the door, she paused, and almost as an afterthought, she glanced at Riku. "Clean that up. Axel will be home soon." And she walked away.

The dead look in her eyes chilled Riku to the bone, but he did as she asked.

"Demyx, call an ambulance. Luxord, get a rag or something to hold over his shoulder." They stared at him dumbly, irritating him. "Now!" he snapped, losing his patience. They scurried off, leaving Riku alone with Xigbar.

"I'll kill her," Xigbar was muttering darkly to himself. "I'm so gonna kill her."

Riku shook his head. _So much for her being into you_, he thought.

ooooooooooooo

I made the decision to attend school that Thursday. It was weird, being back among so many people. I got a lot of funny looks and a lot of whispering, but that was to be expected. A few kids were sincerely glad to see me back, though, so it wasn't completely awkward

Olette was nice enough to ditch her debate club meeting to drive me home after school. Hayner rode with us, although no one else could have told you that. He stayed ducked down in the backseat the whole time. Finally, out of curiosity, I looked over at an annoyed Olette and asked "What _is_ he doing?"

She frowned at the road in front of her. "He thinks it's embarrassing to be seen with me in the car." She explained.

Hayner momentarily raised his head above window level to scowl at me. "No, she's got it wrong – again. I'm not embarrassed to be seen with her in _a _car. I'm embarrassed to be seen with her in _this_ car." He gestured at the interior of the yellow Volkswagen Bug in disgust.

I raised my eyebrows. "Um, why?"

He sighed. "'Cause it's a chick car." He said emphatically.

Olette rolled her eyes. "No, it's not. My cousin David has one, and he's a guy."

Hayner stared skeptically at her. "Olette, your cousin David also has a boyfriend named Bryan, and they have a dog named Princess. Do I really need to say anything else?" He shook his head and glanced at me. I was doing my best not to burst out laughing. He looked back at Olette. "See?" he asked, jerking a thumb at me. "Kairi agrees with me."

Olette tossed her hair over her shoulder. "I don't know what you're talking about." She said loftily.

We reached my house, and Hayner sucked in a breath. "Kairi," he asked me slowly, "Whose car is that?" I followed his eyes to the black Lamborghini in the driveway.

I rolled my eyes. Great. He was back. "That's just my crazy uncle's car. It's not that great."

He stared at me like I was an idiot. "Kairi, it's a _Lamborghini_." He said plaintively. "I don't care how crazy your uncle is. He's got to be rolling in cash to be able to afford one of those. What's his job? I want to do whatever he does."

_No you don't,_ I thought sadly. "I don't actually know what he does for a living now. He used to be a lawyer, then he was a stock broker."

Olette whistled under her breath. "He's got to be a pretty smart guy to be able to do all of that. Crazy or not, that's still really impressive."

I was getting frustrated. I grabbed my backpack off the floor of the car and opened the door. "Whatever. I still hate him anyway, no matter how rich or smart or whatever." I winced. Too vehement – they might get suspicious. Softening my tone a bit, a smiled at the two of them as I got out of the car. "Well, thanks for the ride, guys. I appreciate it."

Olette grinned back at me. "Anytime, hon. Just give me a call."

I nodded at her and glanced back at Hayner. "Good luck getting all the cramps out of your neck." I grinned at him. He shot me the bird and laughed.

I closed the door and waved as they drove away. Sighing, I turned and looked at my house, at the black car. I almost wished that Axel would pop out of a bush and scare me, just so I wouldn't have to go in. However, no such luck. I took a deep breath and started walking.

Upon entering the house, I noticed something different. The TV wasn't on, and the house didn't smell like an open bar. I moved suspiciously forward, trying to hear any movement. Was my dad even home?

Of course he was. His footsteps echoed over my head and moved towards the stairs. My heart kicked into overdrive. I didn't know what to do, so I just stood there, wondering if I should just open up the door and go back outside. I heard him come down the stairs and walk past the kitchen. Then I saw him coming down the hallway, his face shaved and his clothes fresh. He had a box in his hands.

I didn't say or do anything. He didn't look angry – actually, he looked sort of sheepish – but that could change at any second. So I stared blankly at him, trying to look as inoffensive as possible.

He stopped and stood there awkwardly, like he didn't know what to say. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking almost like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar.

I waited.

Suddenly he held out the box, offering it to me. "I got this for you," he blurted. "I hope you like it."

Careful not to touch him, I took the box out of his hands. I pulled off the lid and rested it under the bottom of the box. Inside, there was a brand-new laptop, the one I'd been looking at in the mall. I knew it had been extremely expensive – almost two grand. There was a note attached to the top of it. It read: _I'm sorry, Princess. I didn't mean to do that to you. Let's start this whole thing over again, and I'll do better this time. Your Daddy really loves you. _

I stared at it. I was sure I'd read it wrong. Then I read it again. And again. The message didn't change.

I slowly looked up at him and cautiously said "Thank you."

He looked a little relieved. He smiled briefly and asked "Do you like it? The guy at the store said it was top of the line – the very best. He told me that all the kids that came in there liked it the most. And you don't deserve anything but the best, Princess."

I blinked at him. "Thank you," I said again.

Feeling reassured, he smiled warmly at me and put his arms around me. It took every ounce of self control for me not to cringe or push him away. I stood still and waited for him to let go. "I'm so glad you like it," he said. "I swear, starting today things are going to be different. They'll be better." He stepped away from me, still smiling. "I'm going to go to the store to buy some fresh food. I'll make dinner tonight. Does lasagna sound good?"

"Okay."

"All right, then." He said enthusiastically. He moved for the door. "I'll be back in like a half an hour. I'll see you soon, Princess. Love you." The door closed behind him.

I waited in my spot by the door until I heard the sound of the engine fade down the street. Then, very calmly, I walked up the stairs with my box and my backpack. I carefully deposited both of them in my room, the box on the floor and the bag on my chair. I stared at the box for a moment, then I left the room. When I came back, I had my mother's wooden baseball bat.

I stared once more at the unobtrusive box lying on the floor of my room, testing the weight of the bat in my hands. Very purposefully, I raised the bat over my head and brought it down with everything I had on the ridiculous gift.

I spent the better part of five minutes beating the crap out of the fancy laptop. The effort I put into it actually made me lose my breath. With every swing I took, the more I realized just how upset I was. On my last swing, I hit the thing so hard that it cracked the bat a little bit.

Panting, furious, and distraught, I screamed invectives at the remains of the computer for a while. It was childish, and I knew it. But all the hate had to be let out somewhere.

After the hundredth "I hate you!" I sat abruptly on the floor in front of it, sore and suddenly out of energy. My mind wandered for a while, and I slowly realized that I should clean this up before that insufferable, rich, arrogant slime ball came home.

I ran my hand through the wreckage. Feeling something that wasn't metal, I picked it up. It was that stupid note. I looked at it for about half a second before I slowly and deliberately ripped the hateful thing into a hundred little pieces.

There. That was better.

The worst part was that he actually meant it when he said sorry. That's how he works; he feels wretched, apologizes, and gets over it. And he expects you to do the same. But I don't care how sincere or eager he is. It's going to take a hell of a lot more than some fancy machinery to make me forgive him for anything he's done to this family.

I shook my head and began cleaning up, wishing for everything to go back to the way it was. Mom, where are you?

ooooooooooooo

It took a lot of explaining on Riku's part to get the paramedics and the hospital staff to believe that Xigbar's gunshot wound was the result of a home invasion. The police had him give a description of the nonexistent assailant, and then they left him alone, much to his relief. Even the cops that Axel had paid off made him nervous.

It wasn't until late that the nurse told him that it had just been a flesh wound. Xigbar would be fine in a few months, after it had healed and he'd had physical therapy sessions.

Riku almost wished that Larxene had just killed him. All of this was going to be dreadfully expensive, and he knew without a doubt that they couldn't afford it just then. _Besides_, he thought to himself, _the world would be better off without freaks like him anyway. _

He had wondered how Axel would take it, but it turned out that he didn't have to worry. Axel didn't get home at all that night, much to everyone's relief. An even bigger relief for some was that Larxene stayed shut in her room for the rest of the day.

The next morning, however, she emerged from her room and nearly scared Demyx to death. Riku heard him literally fall over with fright, scramble out of her way, and make a run for it. Riku shook his head and gulped down more coffee. He was exhausted, and he had to be at school soon. Coffee was his best friend in the world at that point.

Lexaeus was sitting at the counter a seat away from Riku. He and Zexion hadn't been all that shocked upon their return to the hangout to hear that Larxene had shot Xigbar. What had shocked them was that he was still alive.

Riku was a bit surprised about that himself. He wondered why she hadn't killed him, considering how much she already hated him.

Suddenly he heard someone enter the kitchen. He glanced up and saw a very tired-looking Larxene in the doorway. Lexaeus made an attempt to seem unperturbed and failed. "Hey, Larx." He ventured.

An angry flash of her poisonous green eyes silenced him.

"Okay, then." Lexaeus said to himself. He stood up, all six feet seven inches of him, and left the room.

The corner of Riku's mouth quirked as he suppressed a smile. _Coward_, he thought.

"Jackass." Larxene muttered as she seated herself in the space that Lexaeus had just vacated. Riku raised an eyebrow at her, unsure if she was addressing him. She caught the look and heaved an exasperated sigh. "Not you. The moron who just left."

Riku nodded in understanding and turned his attention back to his coffee. After a minute or two, he still felt Larxene's eyes on him. He raised his eyes to hers questioningly.

"You're not running away." She stated plainly.

He blinked. "No, I'm not." He confirmed. "Why? Should I be?"

She didn't answer. She looked away from him and looked at the floor, seemingly lost in thought. Riku drank more coffee, his brain finally responding to the caffeine it was receiving. He had almost finished the whole mug when Larxene spoke again. "Thank you," she said slowly, as if testing the way the words sounded coming from her mouth.

Riku was a bit startled. He had never heard her say those words before in his life. Remembering that he was supposed to respond to something like that, he asked "For what?"

She frowned a little and shrugged. "I don't know. Not running away, I guess."

He allowed himself a small smile. "Well, you're not gonna shoot me, are you?" he asked half-jokingly.

One side of Larxene's mouth turned upward, her eyes still far away. "Maybe, maybe not." She returned quietly. Riku realized that she was fixated on a specific spot on the floor, and he followed her gaze. She was looking at a small cluster of dark red spots on the floor. Riku frowned slightly, making a mental note to clean that up after he went to school.

He almost didn't hear Larxene when she spoke again. "Thanks for that too, by the way." She said thoughtfully.

He raised his eyebrows. "Um, for what, exactly? I didn't do anything."

She rolled her eyes. "You did what I told you to. You got that psychopath to the hospital. You're the only one competent enough to do anything right around here. I would have said you _and_ Sora, but he's still passed out, isn't he?"

"That's not his fault." Riku protested.

Larxene raised her eyebrows. "Really? It's not?" she asked sarcastically. Riku didn't respond, so she sighed and looked back at the floor. "I noticed that we're all out of drinks." She commented. "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

From her tone, he already knew that she had the answer, but he nodded anyway.

She tilted her head to the side. 'You know, that's either very brave or vey stupid, given where you live." She said matter-of-factly. She let her head fall back and rolled out her neck. "Ugh, and I've been craving a Corona for the past week." She complained half-heartedly.

Riku immediately replied "You shouldn't be drinking anyway. Maybe I was helping more than one person here."

Larxene smiled ruefully, placing one hand on her slightly expanded belly. "It's not like he or she can get any more screwed up than they will be already. Look at the parents." Her grin was wicked and somewhat self-mocking.

Then her expression softened. "I hope that they turn out at least a little normal. I really do." She said quietly, glancing at the blood spots on the floor again. "Do you think he meant it?"

"Who? Xigbar?" he asked. She nodded, wrapping her arms around herself. He considered it for a moment. "He wouldn't do it. He'd be too afraid of Axel beating the shit out of him."

Her arms tightened. "He should be more afraid of _me_." She burst out. "I'll kill anyone who touches this kid. I'm dead serious. I'm gonna do this right – already got a crib and everything. The baby's gonna be born, and Axel and I are going to try and raise it properly – and I'll kick his ass if he doesn't try hard enough. It's his kid, too."

Riku was speechless. Only a few weeks ago, Larxene and Axel were talking abortion. They were both equally incapable of caring about anything but themselves. But now . . . Larxene was almost unrecognizable.

He nodded his approval. "I'm glad to hear that. I wouldn't have thought you could do it – no offense," he added quickly.

She gave him a withering look. "Shut up, moron. This'll be different."

He held up his hands. "Okay. I believe you." He smiled briefly, and then realized he had to be at school in five minutes. He started swearing under his breath as he grabbed his backpack.

Larxene gave him a nasty grin. "Are you gonna be late for _school_?" she asked with a sneer. "Why do you even bother going? Everybody but you and Sora have dropped out – like, in the last few weeks."

He shrugged as he started towards the door. "I just think education is important. It can get you better jobs, too."

She stared at him. It took her a minute to realize he was serious. She shook her head in wonder. "You are one weird guy." She mused.

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Larxene's voice stopped him before he got out the front door. "Hey, aren't you forgetting Sora?" she called.

He cringed. "Let him sleep. He needs it," he shouted back.

"Okay. But _you_ were the one going on about education." She yelled after him. She heard the pathetic excuse for a car he had start up and speed down the street. A little smile lingered on her face as she sat at the counter, staring off into space.

Demyx nervously stuck his head through the door. "Is it safe to come in?" he asked.

"Piss off."

Demyx fled the scene.

The small little smile returned to Larxene's lips.

**A/N:**

**I've been wanting to shoot Xigbar for a long time. Haha. **

**Review!**


	33. Chapter 33

Dinner with my dad was suitably awkward. He tried too hard, and I didn't try at all. He was eager and talkative, and I was uninterested and quiet. Eventually he stopped trying to get me to respond with multi-worded answers and contented himself with rambling on about topics that he found interesting. Cars and sports frequently came up.

After that, I did my homework and went to bed. The next morning, I made myself breakfast, showered carefully, and went to school. I saw all my friends, went to classes and came home to find my dad happily playing his role as a father.

And that became the pattern. The weeks went by, unusually quiet. My injuries healed, most of them fading completely, except for the small white scar over my left eyebrow. The temperature steadily dropped, and winter clothing made its first appearance. I ended up wearing some of my mother's clothing, since I'd outgrown most of my coats and gloves and such.

Every weekend, my friends and I would hang out. We'd usually go to the mall or Namine's art studio, but as it grew colder, Olette's house became a frequent destination. Her mom made the best hot chocolate I'd ever tasted. Namine's house was also a popular place to go, since she lived almost exactly ten minutes from everyone else.

Sometimes, Riku would join us. Not at Namine's place, of course, but he'd come with us to the mall. And after Olette became more comfortable having him with us – and after I begged her for a few days – she relented and invited him to come with us to her house. And with that, he was officially accepted as one of our own.

As he started to hang out with us more and more, he slowly branched out to reach the others. First he only spoke with me, and then he won over Hayner with talk about his work at the garage and his love of cars. Pence reluctantly came next, seeing that Hayner was all right with Riku. Neither of them talked much in the first place, so that served as their connection. Olette was suspicious of him for a while, despite her jokes about Namine dancing with him at the dance. She eventually got used to him, though, and she started treating him like he'd always been a part of our circle.

Namine was an interesting case. She and Riku had been friendly while she and Roxas were together, but not so much after Axel and the others attacked her. Those were some pretty seriously conflicting memories associated with him. She was very, _very_ shy at first. She couldn't even look at him at first. But after a few days of him sort of staring at her like he was trying to figure out what to say, she actually initiated a conversation with him. It was about some frivolous thing, but it was definitely a start.

I was curious, of course, about Sora's mysterious absence. He wouldn't answer any texts or calls, and it wasn't like I could go knock on his door, so I decided to just find out from Riku. But the first and only time I asked Riku where he was, the look he gave me was frightening. He told me that he was sick and left it at that. I missed Sora like crazy, but seeing Riku look so haunted and angry was incentive enough to keep my mouth shut.

So I waited, feeling more confident as each day went by. I was getting to be my old self again, not that pathetic weak thing I'd been turning into. I would be forever grateful to Namine for making me get over myself and leave my house.

On one particularly blustery Saturday morning, I was mulling over what might have happened if Namine hadn't come over that day as I biked to Olette's house. It was odd to think that one person could have so much influence over another's decisions, whether for good or for bad. I thought about how lucky I was to have such good examples in my life, like Namine kicking my butt into gear, or Pence and Hayner reminding Olette that she didn't have to be perfect all the time.

Riku, however, was really the one who inspired me to do my best at everything I tried. He worked long hours at two jobs, he was doing his best to fit in with us, and he juggled schoolwork and wrench time for the Deathtrap and who knows what else on top of that. Sora used to be my inspiration, and I was sad to admit to myself that Riku had replaced him. Not like I still didn't love Sora, but he'd been gone from my life since that last night he'd stayed with me after the incident with my dad.

I realized that I'd never told Sora how I felt to his face. I briefly wondered if he would have stuck around if I had told him, but then I shook the thought away. He knew where to find me – if he didn't want to see me, it wasn't my problem. But he could at least text me that he doesn't want to talk to me anymore so I could stop thinking that this was my fault somehow.

I made myself think of happier things as I neared Olette's house. Just the thought of her mom's hot chocolate was making my mouth water. Then my thoughts started drifting to my own mother . . .

_Stop that. _I scolded myself. Things are going great now; they're finally settling down. So cheer up!

I braked in front of Olette's house and chained my bike to the fence in her front yard. I ran up to the front door and rang the bell, starting to get really cold now that I wasn't moving.

Olette answered the door, smiling as she let me in. "Still freezing out there?" she asked. I nodded while I rubbed a gloved hand over my face, waiting for the feeling to return to my nose and cheeks. She laughed at me and said "Everyone else is in the family room. I'm going to go get more hot chocolate out of the kitchen."

"Do you want help?" I offered, the promise of hot chocolate extremely appealing.

She shook her head. "No, I got it. I'll bring you a cup, too. Be right back." She turned on her heel and strode toward the kitchen, leaving me to take off my coat and shoes.

When I had finally yanked off my stubborn boots, I made my way to the family room. I heard people talking, and it sounded like everyone was there already. I could hear Hayner, Pence, and Namine all laughing at something Riku had just said. I turned right around the corner and took in the whole room at once. The five of them were seated on the sofa and chairs around a polished wooden coffee table.

_Five?_

I realized that someone extra was there, and I'd missed them completely when I had first entered the room.

"Sora," I said in disbelief.

oooooooooo

Riku, seated between Namine and Hayner on the couch, watched as that look came over her, the one she saved just for Sora. Jealousy gnawed at him, though not as strongly as it once had. The feelings that had been concentrated solely on Kairi had subtly divided, and now they extended somewhat to the delicate girl sitting next to him. At the same time, spending so much time with Kairi without Sora being around had strengthened his feelings for her.

What confused him was that they were nothing alike. Kairi was fiery and strong; Namine was compassionate and quiet. Not only that, but Namine had been dating Roxas, his other best friend. Did the same rules apply if somebody died? Or were they the same?

He brushed those thoughts away as another surge of jealousy hit him. That look was killing him. He briefly closed his eyes so he could clear his head.

It hadn't been easy for him to get Sora to this point. In fact, it had been almost impossible.

The day after he'd tossed out all the alcohol, someone had gone out and bought more. Sora was drunk before Riku even got back from school, but he'd caught Larxene before she could drink any of the beer in her hands. She complained and threatened him at first, but he made her see reason. Her love for her unborn kid was what did the trick.

Right after that, Axel got back. Riku found him in the kitchen, standing over the spots of blood on the floor, his face like a thundercloud.

"What the hell happened here?" he'd demanded of Riku.

Luckily, Larxene had come to his rescue. "Xigbar threatened our kid's life, that's what happened." She'd explained sourly.

Axel had promised her right then and there that's he'd kill Xigbar, but she just shook her head. "I took care of that already. I shot him."

"You killed him?" he'd asked in disbelief.

Riku had taken over the explaining at that point, about the situation at the hospital and the money it would cost. Axel had just shrugged and said "I'll take care of that."

The next couple of weeks after that had been heinous for Riku. Between work, school, and trips to the hospital, he had no time and no energy to deal with Sora alone. And on top of that, Kairi was clearly missing Sora. So he did the previously unthinkable – he asked Larxene for help.

At first she had thought he was joking, but when she realized he was serious, her reaction was one of heavy sarcasm. "What do you want me to do, forbid any more alcohol from being brought in here?"

The more he thought about it, the more he liked it. "Yeah. You should do exactly that. Axel listens to everything you say."

The look she gave him was positively scathing. He backtracked. "He _usually_ listens to what you say, and that's better than anything the rest of us could say. Just tell him that it's bad for the baby if you drink, and you don't want to be constantly tempted."

"What do I get if I do this?" she asked suspiciously. Riku internally winced; he should have known there would be some sort of price.

His mind raced, looking for something to offer. "I'll get you anything you need for you or the baby whenever you ask. I'll babysit too, if I have to."

She tilted her head to one side for a minute. "Throw in doing all my laundry until the baby is born and you've got a deal."

"Seven months of laundry?"

"Take it or leave it."

"Fine."

The next day, to the outrage of most of the Organization, every drink in the house was gone, no exceptions. Riku didn't even want to know how Larxene had convinced Axel, but she certainly looked smug about it.

The real trouble was when Sora started going through withdrawal. Though he hated to do it, Riku locked him in his room to try and keep him from going out to get a beer. Unfortunately, he had forgotten about the windows, and the fact that Sora would just pick the lock while he was at school.

When he approached Larxene with the issue, she just glared at him. "You had to bodily throw him back into his room, you moron. I'm two months pregnant."

And so, after Riku had taken on doing her share of the dishes for the next seven months, Larxene bullied Lexaeus and Demyx into keeping Sora locked in Riku's room for detoxification.

Sora definitely did not do well. At one point, Riku almost let him out, feeling absolutely terrible for making Sora feel so sick. Lexaeus and Demyx stepped aside, but Larxene held firm.

"Stop being such a pussy." She said pitilessly. "This was _your_ idea, so suck it up. You're helping him, remember?"

She had been right. A week later, Sora's system was clean. He had tried to thank Larxene for making him do it, but she brushed him off like an annoying insect. "Don't thank me, stupid." She said with a snarl. She jerked a thumb at Riku. "Thank him. It was all his idea. And he's been paying for it, too. Isn't that right, precious?" she grinned evilly as she roughly pinched Riku's cheek.

After he had explained everything that had happened to the now clear-headed Sora, a sort of awed respect had come over the younger teen. "You did all that for me?" he asked incredulously. Riku nodded. Sora blinked a few times in surprise. "Whoa. Holy crap. Thanks, man. I feel really bad for putting you through all that – especially for making you deal with Larxene for more than five minutes."

"She's actually not that bad, once you really talk to her."

Sora had just stared at him. "Um, did you lose your mind while I was on a bender? 'Cause last time I checked, she almost blew somebody away."

A day later, Kairi and her friends – now his friends, he realized – decided to chill at Olette's over the weekend. Riku, seeing an opportunity to make Kairi happy, decided to see if Sora could come. He asked Olette, and she had said he could come if he wanted to. Riku couldn't decide whether he was happy about that or not.

Coming back to the present, Riku still couldn't decide if he was happy or not. He'd willingly brought Sora back to Kairi, effectively destroying the possibility of being more than just her friend.

"Hey, Kairi." Sora said almost shyly. She stared back at him, her expression starting to look more confused than adoring and surprised.

Kairi blinked and looked around the room like she was seeing it for the first time. She looked at Hayner, Pence, Namine, and Riku in turn. Then she looked back at Sora. Riku thought his heart would actually slow to a stop.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a second? Outside?" she looked at the rest of them. "Do you guys mind?"

"Uh-uh."

"Not really."

"Go ahead."

_Yes. _"No."

Kairi smiled briefly and looked back at Sora. He eased himself out of his chair and followed her out of the room. Olette came back from the kitchen at that moment, looking over her shoulder at the two that had just left. She set the tray of cookies and hot chocolate in her hands on the table. "What was that all about?" she asked the rest of them.

Pence shrugged, and Hayner grunted. "No idea."

Riku said nothing and saw nothing as he stared at the spot where Kairi had been. He didn't notice that his hands were clenched into fists, or that a pair of wide blue eyes were watching him.

oooooooooo

Sora and I passed Olette on our way down the hallway. I didn't offer an explanation to her questioning look, nor did I slow enough for Sora to offer one. I turned left at the corner, moving as quickly as I could without running. I didn't bother putting on my coat or boots at the door; I just opened it and went outside.

I waited for the door to shut before I turned on Sora. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "Riku invited me." He paused. "You look good, Kairi."

I raised my eyebrows at him. "That's because the last time you actually _saw_ me was right after I'd been beaten to a bloody pulp. Remember?"

He looked chagrined. "I'm sorry, I really am."

I wasn't done. "Oh, yeah. Okay. That's why you tried to talk to me so much after I was almost blown up and shot and killed." I was really working myself up, and I couldn't seem to help it. "And that's why I've been seeing so much of you these past few weeks."

He couldn't meet my eyes, so he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at the ground. An especially crisp wind went by, and I hugged myself for warmth. I searched his face for something, anything that could tell me what he was thinking, but there was nothing.

"Where were you, Sora?" I asked softly.

He raised one shoulder, half-shrugging. "I was sick." He said simply.

"Bullshit. For a month?"

"Yeah."

I shook my head, trying to get him to look me in the eye. "Sora, why aren't you telling me the truth? I thought we were past that a long time ago."

He frowned and looked me square in the eye. "It _is_ true. Well, sort of, but I _was_ out of it for a month."

"What do you mean?" I shivered in another gust of cold wind. If I didn't get the truth out of him soon, we would both probably get pneumonia. I started shifting my weight between my feet, using the movement to keep warm.

He looked out at the street. "You know that I've got some issues, all right?"

I snorted. "Sora, we've all got issues. I know that better than anyone."

"Well, did you know that I'm a severe alcoholic?"

I stared at him, open-mouthed. A chill went up my spine, and it had nothing to do with the weather. "You're a _what_?" I asked stupidly.

"You heard me." When he looked at me, his eyes were sad.

I blinked. "No, you can't be." I declared, firmly set in denial. "I _live_ with a raving alcoholic. You're nothing like him."

He shook his head. "We're more alike than you think. We might not react the same way, but the addiction is the same." He glanced at my face, looking for a reaction. "I bet you're sick of hearing me talk. I think that this was a mistake." He took a step backward and looked at the front door, like he was ready to be anywhere but here.

I was still struggling with the new information. "You were on a bender for a _month_?"

He nodded, still looking at the door. "Yeah. Riku was the one who got me sobered up, though. I'd probably still be laying face down on the couch back home if it had been up to me."

A wave of revulsion swept over me. "Do you actually like being like that?"

A short bark of a laugh escaped him. "No, of course not. But it's an all-consuming thing for me. And when you got all messed up, that was it."

"Are you saying that _I_ caused all this crap?" I asked in shock.

"No. It wasn't your fault at all. When I get upset, like _really_ upset, it's an escape. Sometimes it's short lived, but sometimes it goes on for a while. That's what happened this time."

I silently absorbed that. I knew that Sora had some problems, but not like this. And an alcoholic? Out of everything that he could possibly be, it had to be that. I shivered again and realized that my toes were going numb. Sora hadn't moved almost at all since we came out here. "Aren't you cold?" I snapped at him.

I could tell that caught him by surprise. "What? Um, no, not really."

That irritated me more than it should have. Without thinking, I punched him hard in the chest. Then, realizing how stupid that was, I rushed into him, nearly knocking him over. I squeezed my arms around him as tight as they would go, not really knowing what to say. And, damn it, he really wasn't cold at all.

He stood there with his arms out, taken completely by surprise. Slowly, his arms came down around me. "You don't hate me?" he asked cautiously.

I shook my head. "I don't hate you." I mumbled into his shoulder. "Don't ask me why. I just don't."

"Okay." He said simply. "I'm glad that you don't."

I don't know how long we stood there, but my feet were like blocks of ice when I suggested that we go inside and act like nothing happened. He agreed to keep quiet, and I opened the door, letting the warmth wash over me. Sora came in after me, and the door closed to the bitter cold outside.

**A/N:**

**Not quite as good as I had wanted it to be, but I finished it pretty quickly. **

**Tell me what you think!**


	34. Chapter 34

Listening to the ceaseless chatter was making Riku's stomach churn. The words became distorted, blurred, and faded, leaving him in a vacuum with his thoughts. Something clattered on the table; he was vaguely aware of Pence laughing at Hayner. Olette said something sarcastic. But nothing they did was as important as what was happening outside. Riku could sense that; why couldn't they?

Didn't they know that things were changing out there? Didn't they know that things could be either enormously different or exactly the same, depending on what those two were talking about?

Olette had asked him a question. He pretended not to hear; instead, he took a swallow of hot chocolate that burned his tongue. Olette turned to Hayner and repeated her question, sounding a bit put off by Riku's sudden silence. The only word that Riku picked up was "Kairi." Immediately his attention was riveted, though he didn't let the others notice.

". . . and Kairi are talking about?"

Hayner shrugged. "No idea. Could be anything, really."

So they had been paying attention, that much was clear. But they still didn't understand the impact of the events taking place, or how hard he had worked to set them in motion. Riku blinked once, then twice. He could feel a constant buzzing, and his ears were ringing strangely.

_I want them to be happy. This is what she wants. I want her to be happy. _

The thought of losing her to his best friend hit him like a speeding train, now more than ever.

_I want her to be happy. This isn't about me. I did this for her. She deserves to have everything she wants. _

Despite his grim determination to fix things between Sora and Kairi, his gut was telling him to do something insane, like run out the front door, declare his love, and demand that Kairi choose between him and Sora. But that was no good, he reasoned with himself, since Kairi would clearly choose Sora and never want to see him again. The ringing in his ears was a dull roar; the buzzing was inside his very skin. How long had they been gone? Had they simply gone without saying anything? He worried that the others would notice that he was going to explode.

Luckily for him, it didn't seem like his newfound friends were remotely aware of his inner state of chaos. What he didn't realize, however, was that one person could sense the overpowering feelings bouncing around inside him. He didn't realize that someone was watching him.

The _thud_ of the front door resounded in his ears. The others looked up expectantly. Riku felt a bit like he was waiting to be sentenced. He waited, and waited, a few seconds, an eternity, and then they were back in the room.

Kairi and Sora, his two favorite people in the world. They were walking so close together that their shoulders frequently touched.

Kairi's eyes had their old light in them, and everything was going to be okay.

It just about killed him.

A small part of him had hoped that she would have refused to forgive Sora, allowing him to have another chance with her once Sora was no longer part of the picture. He would have had a hard time brushing aside Sora, but Kairi was worth it. The knowledge that this was what he had secretly wanted disgusted him. But now that this wasn't an option available to him, there was a weird sense of relief that tinged his bitter disappointment, relief that he at least knew what her choice would be. The not knowing had almost been worse than knowing – but knowing was pretty bad..

He smiled at them. "What took you guys so long?"

Sora shrugged. He unconsciously shifted his weight toward Kairi and ventured a grin. "Man, our feet got frozen to the ground. It has to be ten degrees outside."

Olette laughed. "Sit down, guys," she gestured to the empty chair and a spot on the sofa, "these cookies are great. I made them myself."

Hayner leaned forward. "I'd leave 'em if I were you!" He whispered loudly.

Pence, in mid-bite, started laughing and inhaled the piece of cookie he'd been chewing, choking loudly. After Olette had whacked him on the back a few times, he managed to swallow properly and resume laughing. Olette, seeing that he was fine, promptly turned and whacked Hayner over the head with a cushion.

Amidst all this, Kairi and Sora had taken the empty seats. Sora sat back in his chair and Kairi sat on the other side of Riku on the couch. He could smell her shampoo as she sat down, and her arm brushed against his. She turned and smiled at him in greeting. It was intoxicating him, and she had no idea.

She leaned toward him, partially to make herself heard over the laughter and the argument breaking out about baked goods, and partly to keep what she had to say as discreet as possible.

"Thank you," she said simply.

Surprised, he glanced over at her. Did she know? He had to make sure. "For what?"

She smiled again. "For giving me Sora back."

Something seemed to be constricting his chest. He couldn't breathe properly. He smiled back at her. "Don't mention it. It wasn't a big deal."

_I'd do anything for you. This was nothing. _

oooooooooooooo

When we came back into the room, it was perfect. Sora and I were back in our pseudo-relationship, and I had my best friends waiting for us with hot chocolate and cookies – which, despite Hayner's warning, were delicious. I had four before I stopped myself, afraid that my arm would get taken off by Olette or Hayner..

The only thing that seemed a little off was Riku. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something was definitely up with him. I resolved to ask him about it later, since he was usually more open when it was just us.

I grinned when Olette and Hayner started fighting again. They were so adorable when they fought – they knew exactly what to say to the other to make them annoyed and charmed at the same time. I wish I knew how to do that. It would probably come in handy someday.

I glanced over at Sora and saw that he was already looking at me. He flashed his ridiculous grin, and I couldn't help but blush and grin back. I thought to myself, _this is how things are supposed to be. Right now, I'm a normal teenager, hanging out with my closest friends and semi-boyfriend. _

And now that I knew what Sora's problem was, the last few months didn't seem so terrible. Even during the times that I had felt good, I realized now that I had been unconsciously upset that Sora hadn't been there. Now that I knew I hadn't done anything wrong, everything seemed like it would turn out for the best. And besides, alcoholism could be managed. If you had the willpower and support to see it through, it could be beaten.

I threw a sidelong glance at Riku. He was laughing, like the others, but it still somehow didn't seem right.

I shook my head. I wasn't going to worry about it right this second. What I worried about in an hour or two was a different story, but right now, I'm going to just chill out..

I grabbed another cookie as the argument died down, no longer fearing loss of limb if I got in their way. Olette, mollified by beating Hayner, glanced around at each of us. "Guys, what sounds better: movie or poker game?"

I heard groan from Pence. He closed his eyes like he was in extreme discomfort and said "Movie! Definitely movie. Is that even a question?"

She assumed a slightly haughty look and said "Yes, it is. Why, is something the matter?" Just by listening to the tone of her voice, I could tell that she knew exactly what was bothering him. I wondered what caused him to react like that. Whatever it was had probably been hilarious.

Pence gave her a sour look. "You clean me out every time we play cards. You clean them out, too." He gestured at Hayner and Namine, who were suppressing grins and avoiding direct eye contact. Olette raised an eyebrow, and I could tell she was suppressing a giggle.

Sora chose this particular time to chime in. "I'll play," he said impishly. "It's been a while since I've beaten somebody at poker."

Knowing Olette's competitive nature, this was probably taken as a direct challenge to her honor, integrity, skill, etc. The big tipoff was the vein throbbing in her temple when we were all browbeaten into playing, even though I protested that I didn't even know the rules. Sora and Olette both waved me off, already too intent on winning the game to notice my distress. Even after about five minutes of play, I was still hopelessly lost and staring blankly at my cards.

Riku came to my rescue. He elbowed me in what was supposed to be a playful way, even though it felt like a sledgehammer, and said "Quit stressing. Come on, I'll help you out." He sounded a bit exasperated, but that was just fine, since I didn't have the slightest idea of what I was doing.

I slowly progressed under Riku's instruction, but not quickly enough to stop Sora from winning the first game. After he gloated for a minute or two, and after everyone had paid up, Olette, with a competitive fire in her eyes, challenged him to another game. The rest of us sincerely wished to hold on to whatever money we had left, but we ended up playing again anyway.

Once again, Riku helped me to appear at least competent, but by the time I was finally starting to get it on my own, Olette had won and it was getting to be time for everyone to leave, since Olette's family were going out somewhere. I shelled out what I owed, which was thankfully a smaller amount than in the previous game. The others seemed to be grateful for this as well, since they were usually just as short of cash as I was.

I stood up and stretched, relieved to be out of my seat after such a long time. The others were slowly getting up, and I distinctly heard Hayner's knee pop as he stood up, causing a bit of mockery to ensue, with Pence calling him an old man and such.

I glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner and knew I should be going. I looked at my friends. "Guys, this has been great, but I really have to go." I said apologetically.

Pence and Hayner jumped on me and ruffled up my hair, saying they couldn't wait to go broke with me again, earning a few laughs. Olette and Namine both grinned and hugged me goodbye, and I thanked Olette for letting me come over for about the hundredth time. She waved me off, saying that we were all welcome anytime. She winked at me as she said this, and I knew that she was including Sora in that invitation to come back. A warm, fluffy feeling expanded in my chest as I thanked her again and headed for the door.

I had taken about one step when I said "Oh!" and turned on my heel to find Riku and Sora. Sora was closer, so I got to him first and hugged him goodbye. He didn't say anything, but he discreetly planted a small kiss under my right ear before he let me go. I was fervently glad that nobody saw that I was blushing again.

Then I went to Riku, who once again seemed off. Still puzzled by this, I got up on my tiptoes to throw my arms around his neck, hoping that it would make him seem less distracted. I smiled and said "Thanks again," to him. I let go, but timed it awkwardly. I let go too fast, and Riku's arms stayed where they were for a moment too long. I grinned up at him and turned to head for the door, calling goodbye over my shoulder to everyone.

I grabbed my boots and coat and opened up the front door, letting in a freezing blast of air. Suddenly there were footsteps and Sora was right behind me.

"Mind if I walk you home?" he asked with a smile.

"It's freezing outside," I pointed out.

He shrugged, grinning like an idiot now. "Yeah, well if you have to go through it, I might as well go with you."

"I brought my bike, though."

"I'll jog." He laughed.

I caved and shook my head, laughing at him. "Fine, fine. If you insist. But I'm warning you now; I'm not going to save you if you freeze solid."

"Fair enough."

I let the door close behind us, and we set off into the cold.

Oooooooooooooooo

Riku had watched her go, which had been bad enough. When Sora asked him if he minded if he walked Kairi home, it was borderline torture.

He shrugged, grinned, and said "Go for it. Don't complain about frostbite when you walk home, though."

Sora laughed. "I won't, promise." And then he left as well.

Pence left next, since he had driven there. Hayner kissed Olette goodbye and headed out to his run-down car, leaving Riku with Namine and Olette. Olette, who looked tired now that she didn't really have to entertain anyone, fell back onto the couch and sighed. "Well, that was fun." She sighed happily. Namine nodded in agreement.

"It was. Although, I'm going to have to stop bringing money to your house if you keep making us play cards against our will." Namine said airily.

Riku forced himself to crack a smile, but there didn't seem to be much point now that most of the people were gone. Well, just two of the people.

Just then, Olette's mother came down the hall, looking slightly harried while trying to fix an earring and put on makeup simultaneously. "Olette, honey, I'm sorry, but we have to leave, like _right now_. We're going to be late as it is." She looked at Riku and Namine and smiled warmly. 'Thanks for coming over, guys. It's always a pleasure to see you." She glanced at her watch again, and her smile turning into a worried frown. "Oh, dear," she muttered. She looked at them again. "Do you have rides home? I hate to do this, but we really have to leave."

Namine bit her lip. "I think my mom is coming soon-ish," she said thoughtfully. "But my brother might have the car today."

Riku glanced at her. "Do you need a ride? I drove myself here."

There was the slightest cringe at his words, but he wasn't sure if anyone else had seen it. Namine looked at the ground. "No, that's okay. I'll wait outside." She looked at Olette's mother. "Thank you again for having me," she said cheerfully. She hugged Olette and headed down the hall.

Riku awkwardly thanked Olette and her mother as well, and followed the path Namine had taken to the door. He pulled on his worker's boots and secondhand coat and left the house, feeling strangely numb.

He saw Namine out in the front yard, wrapped in a hat and scarf over her coat. She was leaning against the fence, staring out at the street, like she could will her mother to appear faster if she tried hard enough.

Riku went through the gate and almost kept going, but his conscience made him turn back. Leaving her standing in the cold alone would definitely be considered wrong. He also leaned up against the fence, a safe distance away from Namine, and stuffed his hands in his pockets. He let his thoughts drift to Kairi, and the way she had come back to hug him before she left.

Namine glanced over at him and away again. "You don't have to stay here." She said evenly, staring at the street.

He had barely heard what she had said, but he scraped together a reply. "Hm? Oh, I don't mind." He said absently. "You shouldn't wait alone."

"Seriously, you can go. It's really cold and I'd feel bad if you got sick."

"I don't get sick." _Not until recently, anyway._ He let himself check out again, thinking that the matter was settled.

She looked over at him and frowned. "Everyone gets sick, especially in the winter." As if to emphasize her words, an icy wind whipped down the street, tearing at their clothes and making their eyes water.

Riku stopped thinking about Kairi long enough to feel exasperated and annoyed. "Look, it's not a problem. We've got equal chances of getting sick, if any at all."

She looked out into the street. "I've got a hat and a scarf. Your ears look like they're going to fall off."

After making sure she wasn't looking at him, Riku felt his ears. They were frozen and completely numb. Scowling, Riku stuffed his hands into his pockets. "They're fine," he lied. "It isn't that cold, anyway." He was pretty sure his ears were the color of tomatoes. Or the color of Kairi's hair. Another cold gust of wind ran through him, making him huddle farther into his coat. He wondered what she and Sora were talking about, where they were, if they felt this cold.

Namine pulled a pair of mittens out of her pocket and crammed them onto her hands. Riku vaguely wondered if she was used to waiting for a long time to get picked up. He stared up at the sky, lost in thought.

A few seconds passed before Namine sighed. "Look, my mom should be here soon. I'm fine, really."

Still lost in thought, Riku muttered a reply before he could remember who he was talking to. "Yeah, and what if somebody kidnapped you the second I left?" His eyes widened as he realized what he'd said. He glanced hurriedly at Namine, hoping she hadn't heard. From the look of it, she'd listened to every word. Her shoulders had stiffened, and her eyes were glazed. For a moment he worried that he'd triggered one of her panic attacks. Then she did something he hadn't expected at all – she set her jaw, cocked her head to the side, and fixed him with a glare that made him freeze like a rabbit in front of a wolf.

"You think that's funny?" she asked quietly.

He shook his head quickly. "Namine, I didn't mean to say that . . . I wasn't thinking . . ."

"Don't _touch _me!" she snarled at him, nearly shocking him senseless with her uncharacteristic anger. She had slapped his arm away after he had unconsciously reached out to touch her shoulder, once again forgetting who he was dealing with. For one jarring second, her pugnacious reaction had forcefully reminded him of Roxas when he'd been angry.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly, holding his hands up. "I'm really sorry . . . I forgot myself. I didn't mean to upset you."

Namine glared at him for a few more seconds, her breathing rapid and uneven. Then, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Keeping her eyes closed, she frowned slightly, looking more sad than angry. After taking a few more deep breaths, eyes still closed, she whispered "Please, just don't touch me."

Riku took a step back to give her space. "I won't, I promise."

She opened her eyes and saw him standing there with his feet apart and hands in the air, looking slightly ridiculous with his red ears and wind-ruffled hair over his concerned expression. She let out what might have been a laugh, but it sounded a bit too cracked.

"You look crazy," she said softly.

He lowered his arms and stood up straight. He shook his head and said "Namine, I really didn't mean what I said. I'm sorry."

She glanced at the ground and turned to face the street once more. "It's fine." She mumbled, folding her arms across her chest. "I need to start acting normal again, and that won't happen unless I work at it. I know you didn't mean it."

He looked chagrined. "You're already normal. You're more normal than most people I know already."

She cracked a small smile. "That's a little sad."

Relaxing a little, Riku leaned against the fence again. He shrugged and said "It's not really saying much. I know some weird people who do bizarre things. And I seriously doubt that you could top anything they've done." He allowed himself a tiny grin.

She looked at him for a moment, her expression unreadable. "Actually, I bet I could."

He laughed in surprise. "I don't think so – that would take some work."

She gazed at him with an odd expression. "Most of my dead boyfriend's old gangster friends took turns hurting me for a few hours. Then they sent out pictures of it. I cut for a while after Roxas was shot by God-knows-who, and I go into shock whenever I go anywhere near the people who hurt me." She held eyes with Riku, daring him to look away. "Am I still normal?"

Riku stared for a moment. "Yes." He said simply. "You're still normal.'

She raised a delicate eyebrow. She looked completely lost. "How do you figure?"

"Bad shit happened, that's true . . . but you handled it. You didn't just give up and let it control your life. A lot of people would just sit locked in a room, either 'cause they went crazy or they feared everything else. And you went back to living life the way it had been before, right? Some things are different, but you'll handle those too."

It was her turn to stare at him. "I don't think I've ever heard you talk that much." She said finally.

He was totally unprepared for that statement. All he could do was chuckle and say "You don't talk very much either."

She nodded and shifted her weight from foot to foot. The temperature had noticeably dropped within the last few minutes, and Riku felt sure that his ears would actually fall off.

Suddenly, one of their cell phones buzzed, making them both jump. Riku was about to check if it was his, but Namine had beaten him to it and was answering a call from her mother. Riku could hear most of the conversation from the other line as well as from Namine.

"Mom?"

"_Hey sweetie, I'm so sorry I'm late. I don't know if I'll be able to come get you, and I think Cloud's phone is dead."_

Namine looked as though she had aged ten years in the last ten seconds. "Are you sure?"

"_I'm sure . . . oh, I'm sorry! I should have tried to leave early. Are your friends still there? Are you waiting inside Olette's house? It's freezing outside."_

Namine glanced at Riku. "Yes, we're all here. They'll let us wait as long as we want."

"_Oh, good. Well, can one of the girls give you a ride home?" _

"Yeah, I think Olette can give me a ride."

"_All right sweetie. I'll be home in a while, okay? Thank Olette! Love you!"_

"Love you, Mom."

Namine snapped the phone shut and put it back in her pocket. She glanced at Riku. "Did you mean what you said? About how I would handle everything?"

Riku nodded. "Every word."

She blinked a few times and half-smiled. "Thanks."

He shrugged. "No problem."

Riku noticed that his nose had also lost all feeling as yet another blast of icy air hit him in the face. Namine shivered and wrapped her scarf tighter around her. She glanced up at him. "Listen, I should get going. My mom might get home before I do, and I don't want her to worry any more than she already does."

Riku felt a twinge of alarm. "Namine, you're not planning on walking, are you?"

She tilted her head to one side. "Yes, I am. Why?"

He closed his eyes for a moment. He couldn't believe that he knew more than one girl this maddeningly stubborn. "It's five degrees below zero, and you're planning on _walking_ home?"

She set her jaw again, making her elfin features appear tougher. "I can't drive. Not anymore, anyway." She shivered again, clutching her arms for warmth.

Riku rubbed a hand over his numb face. "Look, the offer still stands – I can drive you back, if you want."

She eyed him warily and opened her mouth to object, but Riku cut her off. "I promise I'll stay as far away as humanly possible, and I'll have the heat on full blast. Or I could walk you home for a half hour through subzero temperatures." He ventured a half smile, hoping that she would spare his frozen face thirty minutes of torture.

She shifted her gaze from his left eye to his right and back again, as if trying to detect any lie hidden there. She considered him for a few moments, then asked "Why are you trying so hard to be nice to me?"

He blinked. "I guess . . . 'cause it's right. I don't know. Does it matter?"

She snorted softly and looked at the street. "It might. I guess it doesn't right now." She looked back at the house behind them and tugged her hat lower on her head. After sighing in resignation, she looked back at Riku and asked "Are you sure it's okay if you give me a ride?"

He nodded very slowly, trying to make sure the message was clear. "Yes, I can give you a ride. It. Is. No. Problem." He smiled.

She gave a small, silvery laugh and said "All right then. Can we get going? Because I'm freezing right now."

Riku rolled his eyes and began walking with her towards the Deathtrap. "Really? You're only freezing just now? I'm positive that I needed an amputation like five minutes ago."

Ooooooooooooooooooo

The two of them were silent almost the whole time they were in the car. Namine had looked extremely skeptical on first seeing the decrepit car, but she had been politely discreet and didn't say anything. Riku was grateful for this, since he was getting very tired of reassuring everyone that the little car would not, in fact, be falling apart any time soon.

Halfway to her house, Namine asked him how he'd managed to obtain such an _interesting_ car, and how he'd kept it together for so long. Feeling slightly uncomfortable with telling her he'd stolen it, Riku simply said that it was a friend's car that he had borrowed. However, he felt no need to fudge the truth when it came to talking about how he worked as a mechanic, enabling him to maintain the car in a relatively safe fashion. Once he got going on mechanics, there was no stopping him. Luckily for Riku, Namine seemed content to listen to his dissertation on motors and engines while she curled up as far away from him as possible.

When Namine pointed out her house to him on a quiet suburban street, Riku lapsed into silence. He'd run out of things to say, and he felt that he'd exhausted the possibility of discussing cars any further. He pulled to a stop in front of her house, not much different from Kairi's, now that he came to think of it.

Namine unbuckled her frayed seatbelt and put her hand on the handle, reluctant to set out in the winter air. She glanced at Riku. "You know, Hayner usually has something wrong with his car. You should see if you can help him out with it sometime." She suggested thoughtfully.

Riku nodded. "Yeah, maybe." He was only partially listening to what she was saying. His mind was far away, at a house similar to the one they were parked in front of. It was still painful to think about.

After a few moments of silence, Namine let out a small breath. "That was really brave of you, what you did." She said gently.

He came partially out of his reverie. "What?" he asked hazily.

She looked him in the eyes and said "Letting Kairi go like that. It must have been hard."

He honestly couldn't think of anything clever to say, or even to deny it. "You caught that."

She nodded. He looked down at his shoes, not quite sure what to do.

She continued to pin him with her bright blue eyes. She half smiled at him. "I don't know if I could have done it," she murmured, "willingly let somebody go like that. She must be really important to you, if you're willing to sacrifice that much for her."

He nodded slowly. "I'd do anything for her."

Namine's eyes were filled with pity and empathy and something Riku couldn't identify. "Well, I'm sorry it's got to be like this, then." She looked unsure of herself for a moment, then reached out a hand to touch his shoulder.

Riku glanced up in surprise. Namine smiled sadly, patted his shoulder once and opened the passenger side door, inviting a rush of frigid air to enter the car. She stepped out of the car and said "Thanks again, Riku." Then she shut the door and set off for her house, looking very small against the gray surroundings.

Riku waited until he was sure she was inside the house, then he sped off toward the hangout. It wasn't until he had pulled up in front of the Organization's hangout that he noticed the knitted mitten lying on the passenger seat. Namine must have dropped it on her way out.

Riku got out of the Deathtrap and began walking toward the hangout's front door. Halfway between the car and the door, he concluded that today had been one of the most miserable, most unexpected days of his life.

**A/N:**

**I FINALLY GOT THE NEW CHAPTER DONE!**

**Flu, school, sports, holidays, oral surgeries, final exams, **

**Babysitting, and I don't know what all else there is that's been keeping me from writing.**

**So here's the latest, hope you like it, and Happy New Year!**


	35. Chapter 35

When Riku entered the hangout, the first thing he noticed was the smell. Images of burning tires and old gym socks entered his mind as he shut the door. Looking about, he saw that things had been moved around in the front room; the couch had been pushed back, the TV was farther to the left, and the lamp was disconnected from the wall. In the middle of the room, an enormous crib stood on top of a flattened cardboard box, with several smaller and unflattened boxes standing around it.

After taking all that in, he realized that the smell was coming from the kitchen. Following the repugnant stench, he made his way to the kitchen, stepping over yet more cardboard boxes. Before he could make it, Demyx stepped out of the kitchen and ran right into him.

Looking up at Riku, he said "My bad. Hey, where've you been? Axel and Larxene were looking for you."

Riku grimaced. He wasn't in the mood to deal with either of them. "Did they say what for?"

Demyx stepped around Riku and nearly tripped over some boxes. "Nah, but Axel was pissed off. I'd wait a while before talking to him."

Riku rolled his eyes. "Fine. Hey, what is all this stuff, anyway? And what's that smell?"

A look of terror appeared in Demyx's eyes. "It's stuff for Larxene's brat. And Larxene is _cooking_."

Riku wasn't sure he'd heard that right. "She's _what_?"

"She's cooking, man. Whatever you do, don't go in there. The smell alone will kill you. I'm not even sure if you _could _eat whatever shit she's making."

Riku shuddered, imagining the horror of actually eating the source of the ungodly smell. "I would never have thought that food could smell like that. I thought something had died in here."

Demyx laughed. "Well, if I don't get out of here fast, I'm actually gonna die of smoke inhalation. She's lit something on fire at least twice." He pulled on the coat he'd been holding in his hand and opened the door. An icy draft entered the room, hitting Riku full in the face. "Shit! It's cold," Demyx muttered. Riku nodded in agreement. "Catch you later, man" Demyx said, closing the door behind him.

All of a sudden, Riku smelled smoke mixing together with the noxious fumes in the kitchen, followed by a muffled "God DAMN it!"

Riku threw his coat over the back of the couch and took a deep breath before entering the kitchen. A moment later, he was intensely glad he'd taken off his coat, because the kitchen had to be at least a thousand degrees. The place was an absolute disaster – pots and pans, scraps of food, and some foil wrappers were scattered everywhere. Smoke filled the room, and the source of it was something greasy in a pan that was ablaze on the stove. Larxene could be seen through the smoke, trying to beat down the flames with what appeared to be a baseball hat.

Demyx's warning had been accurate; the smell was so intense in the room that it made Riku's eyes water. He tried to take a breath to call out to Larxene, but ended up choking on poisoned air. He couldn't understand how Larxene could tolerate it. Maybe it was a pregnancy thing. He had no idea.

Pulling his shirt up over his mouth and nose, he made his way across the kitchen. Taking a smaller, much needed breath of air, he called out "Larxene! Hey, Larxene!"

She gave a tiny shriek and whirled on him, nearly hitting his face with what was, in fact, a baseball hat. She looked furious, covered in the remnants of whatever the hell it was that she'd been trying to cook, and she didn't seem glad to have company, which was made clear when she screeched "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?!"

He backed up a little, still trying to breathe whatever oxygen was left available to him. "Do you need help?" he asked, noticing that the flames were bigger than ever in the pan. She appeared to notice this as well, but she made no attempt to do anything about it. Riku blinked several times, trying to clear his streaming eyes. "Your pan is on fire," he added lamely.

She looked like she would explode. "I can see that, you moron! And no, I do NOT need your help!" With that, she turned around and resumed trying to beat the fire down with her hat. After a few moments, she must have realized that it wasn't working, because to Riku's absolute bewilderment, she burst into tears. She took the pan, flaming contents and all, and dumped it in the sink, running cold water over the whole thing. After she had done that, she pulled her slightly burned baseball hat onto her head with both hands and sank to the floor.

Riku wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, so he started cleaning up the kitchen, clearing away the pots and pans and throwing all the scraps and wrappers in the garbage. He stepped carefully around the still-weeping Larxene to open up the small window over the sink to let in some cool, fresh air. However, he took one look at the stove and decided to stop. He wasn't sure if he could even begin to clean the black, oily grime that covered the majority of its surface. He noticed a rectangular book by the stove for the first time, and upon picking it up, he discovered that it was a yellowed old cookbook.

He glanced down at Larxene. She'd been trying to cook out of this old thing? She could barely make pop-tarts right. What had she expected would happen?

Slowly, he sat down on the floor opposite her. "Hey, Larx." He said softly. She didn't seem to hear him. She kept both of her hands clamped down over her burned baseball hat, like she was afraid he was going to take it from her, still crying pretty hard.

"Larxene," he tried again. She shook her head and refused to look at him. "What do you want, idiot?" she said the last part halfheartedly.

"What's wrong?" he asked plainly, for lack of anything else to say.

She sniffled, then decided to glare at him. "I can't cook," she spat at him, though with less venom than usual.

He frowned. "But . . . that's never bothered you before."

Her chin trembled, but her eyes were as angry as ever. "Yeah, well, I was never goddamned _pregnant_ before, either. Moms are supposed to know how to make scrambled eggs, for Christ's sake."

_Scrambled eggs_? Was all Riku could think. All this mess for _scrambled eggs_? Larxene definitely needed more help than that cookbook could give her.

She glared at him some more with her watery green eyes. "Don't laugh at me, you jackass!" she barked at him.

He hadn't realized he'd been smiling until that point. He quickly assumed a straight face, grateful that she hadn't punched him or something. "But, Larx, what brought all this on? How did you think this up in the first place?"

Her chin trembled again. "Well, earlier, Axel and I were watching one of those stupid cooking shows 'cause nothing else was on, and this dumb broad was talking about how her kids just loved her recipes, and Axel was like 'Man, I wish somebody would cook for us around here," so I thought – I thought . . ." She gulped and her face crumpled.

"I thought Axel would like it, 'cause we're gonna be a family!" she wailed. She grabbed the brim of her baseball hat and pulled it over her eyes.

Riku felt bad for her. He could have acted like the other guys and said something mean like, "You guys hate each other!" or "Axel could never eat anything you cooked!" but he didn't. Instead, he said "Oh. Well, where did you find this book, anyway?"

She hiccupped. "It was under one of the blankets in the boxes. Axel and Lexaeus stole 'em for me. Demyx found it."

Riku had to repress another smile. Demyx would have loved knowing that he'd enabled Larxene to cook.

Larxene wiped at her eyes under her hat. "I'm not gonna be able to do this." She whispered. "I'm not mom material. I can't do anything right."

Riku frowned slightly. He reached over and gently lifted the hat from her eyes. She protested, trying to pull it back down, but he said "Wait, listen for a second. You are going to do a great job as a mom. Nobody in their right mind would mess with your kid. You've already proven what would happen to idiots like Xigbar. And you love this kid, right? You want them to have a good life?"

She nodded.

Riku smiled at her. "Then they will. You'll make sure of it. Okay? You're gonna do great."

She stared at him for a moment. Then she smiled, too. "You know what? I think you're right. I'm going to be a kick-ass mom."

Riku laughed. "Hell yeah, you are."

She stood up, adjusting her baseball cap on her head. "I mean, who cares if I can cook or not? There's always takeout, or I can bully you or Demyx into doing it."

Riku sighed. "Well, there is that." He agreed. He stood up as well, and after observing that the smoke and most of the horrible smell had cleared out, he shut the little window over the sink. "But I think that Demyx would be better at that than I would. Not unless you wanted cereal for every meal of the day."

She smirked at him. "No, I hate cereal. I'm fine with you just doing my laundry and the dishes until the kid is born. And then you get to babysit."

He grinned. "Fine by me. Just don't make me teach you how to change a diaper."

Her face went blank. "I hadn't thought of that." She muttered.

"You seriously don't know how?"

She shook her head. "No. Why would I?"

"You never babysat or had a little cousin or something?"

She put her hands on her hips. "I ran away when I was twelve. I've lived here since I was fourteen. Whose kids would I have babysat?"

He considered this. "Good point."

Suddenly, she sniffed the air. "Do you smell that?" she asked/

He was amazed she could smell anything at all after all her crying and cooking. He knew that his olfactory senses weren't recovered yet. "No. what is it?"

She stepped closer to him, grabbed a handful of his shirt, and smelled it. "It's you," she said with an odd look on her face. "You smell like cookies and perfume, a little bit. Where were you? You been hanging out with that whore, Tiffany?"

He was a bit surprised to hear the accusing tones in her voice. "Um, no. She and I hate each other."

Larxene snorted. "Yeah, well, that's never stopped her before. So, where were you?"

"Out." He said.

"No shit, Sherlock." She said wryly. She pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Riku snatched them away before she could light one up.

"Bad for the baby," he reminded her.

She made a face. "Why do you do that? It's not _your_ baby. You don't _have_ to take care of me _or_ this baby. Technically, it's none of your business."

He put the pack and lighter in his back pocket. "Yeah, well, I know that you'd be upset if anything went wrong with the kid, and I'm just trying to keep you guys safe. I'm just looking out for you, that's all."

She studied him for a moment. Then she surprised him for the second time that day by smiling and saying "Thank you." Then, to his utter astonishment and horror, she surprised him for the third time that day by leaning forward and kissing him.

Immediately he pulled back. "Whoa. Um, what are you doing?"

She frowned at him, looking puzzled. "Saying thank you, stupid." She reached out and grabbed a handful of his shirt, pulling him in for another kiss.

He grabbed her hands, gently disentangling them from his shirt. "You don't have to do that with me." He told her. She looked like she didn't understand, so he said it again. "You don't have to do that."

"Oh." Was all she could say. Embarrassed, she stepped back out of his reach. She looked at the floor. "Sorry."

He held up his hands. "It's okay. No harm, no foul."

For the first time ever, Larxene looked uncomfortable. "I . . . I didn't know . . . you didn't expect that. That's usually . . . what people want from me." She said awkwardly.

He felt a pang of pity for her. He wasn't quite sure what to say, but he tried his best. "Well, that's wrong. That's . . . not what people should expect from you. You've got a lot more to offer."

She stared blankly at him. After a pause, she asked "Really?"

He nodded. 'I think so, anyway."

She watched him for a while longer. "You know, you're not such a bad guy." She murmured thoughtfully. She folded her arms and slowly made her way across the kitchen. At the door, she turned her head to look at him. "Thanks."

He put a hand in his pocket. "No problem." And with that, she was gone.

oooooooooooooo

I stared out the window at the large, fluffy flakes that were falling from the sky. It had started snowing about an hour ago, around the time I'd made Sora drop me off at the corner. We'd both been frozen stiff, and I'd been sure that my dad would pop up at any moment, but Sora had still managed to kiss me for so long that I'd run out of air. I think that people don't mention that very often because it's not that romantic, but you run out of air really fast, especially when it's cold out. Then you look ridiculous while gasping for air, and you look even more ridiculous 'cause you're grinning so much.

But damn, Sora was a great kisser.

I sighed and flopped back on my bed. I started thinking about winter break, which began in a week. I'd promised Olette and Namine I'd go Christmas shopping with them a few minutes ago via text, but I had no idea what I was going to get anybody, especially not Sora.

Sora. Just thinking about him made me smile. I'd really missed him. I'd missed his blue eyes, bronze skin, and most of all, I'd missed his goofy smile. It was infectious. _He_ was infectious.

I'd never be able to thank Riku enough for bringing him back to me. Riku had to be the best friend in the world – he was so incredibly selfless with the way he'd helped Sora get back on his feet. I know I probably wouldn't have had the strength or the patience to do it.

Thinking about Riku made me remember the way he'd seemed off at Olette's house. I pulled out my phone and started texting him. I said 'Hey Riku, thanks again for all the help you gave Sora. He wouldn't have made it without you.'

To my surprise, he answered back within a few seconds. 'No problem. He just needed somebody to kick his ass a little.'

I smiled as I read his message. I replied 'Well, you certainly pulled it off. He seems fine now.'

'Anytime. And if you ever need anything, I'll be sure to pull that off, too." He wrote.

'That's really nice of you.' I wrote back. Then, before I forgot, I added 'Hey, you seemed out of it at Olette's today. Were you feeling all right?'

I had to wait a while before he responded. I had just started reading one of my schoolbooks when he replied 'Nah. I wasn't feeling all right, but it's fine. Just one of those things that'll take time to go away.'

'You want to talk about it?' I wrote.

'Not really. It'll pass. Everything does.'

I sat there for a few moments before replying. 'Okay. But just so you know, you can tell me anything, and I'll always listen, all right?'

Once again, he took his time sending his response. 'That's good to hear. Well, at least I've got an insane redhead with a death wish to talk to.'

I laughed and replied 'Come on, you know you love me, craziness and all.'

I had to wait a really long time for his response. I was halfway through a chapter of my schoolbook when he finally said 'Yeah, I do, craziness and all. I have to go to work, but I'll talk to you later, okay? Bye Kairi.'

I chewed on my lip and said 'All right then. Love you too, crazy workaholic guy.' I put a smiley face at the end to show him that I was just kidding. But I guess he must have turned his phone off, 'cause he didn't talk to me again until I saw him at the mall a few days later.

**A/N:**

**Call off the search, 'cause I am BACK! There is absolutely no excusing my being absent for so long, and I apologize.**

**I'm so, so, SO sorry for the long hiatus. I know some readers will have gone by now, and I apologize to them for making them lose faith.**

**Anyway, I hop you like this latest chapter, and hopefully the wait period won't be so long next time. **

**I love you guys, and I hope you've had beautiful lives since I last heard from you. **


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